More on Firefox in the Philippines

While we were in the Philippines, Gen and I learned quite a bit about the local Internet landscape there.  I thought I would share some more information that I picked up from the trip.

• Population is 92 million, online population is between 20-24 million
• English is one of the official languages of the Philippines.  Tagalog is spoken by roughly 22 million people in and around Manila.  Cebuano is another language spoken by nearly 20 million Filipinos south of the Luzon region (where Manila is located).
• Depending on what factor we use as a multiplier for our blocklist/AUS ping data, we can estimate that between 3 and 6 million Filipinos are using Firefox.  That is a rough guess, but it places Firefox market share at a low-end of 12.5% and a high-end of 30%
• Most people we spoke to browse the Web in English (Firefox US version), but some did suggest that a local version would have appeal.
• Even further debate arose on whether a Tagalog version would have traction, with an audience of bloggers at Wordcamp responding collectively that it might not.

That latter point does not rule out Mozilla shipping a local version of Firefox.  But, like every other localization, if we were to ship something localized to the Philippines, it will be because a local community member(s) responds to my call to action and decides to help us complete the body of work.

Obviously, Mozilla Firefox is taking off in the the Philippines, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see if the nascent community stepped forward with an offer to localize Firefox.

Finally, take a look at some stats about Firefox in the Philippines.  (All numbers are based on our blocklist data.)

Tags: community building, l10n, planet, the Philippines | Categories: Uncategorized