Google’s Chrome browser has overtaken Apple’s Safari in the U.S. for the first time on a weekly basis according to StatCounter.

The company says for the week beginning June 21 Chrome surpassed Safari to claim third place in the U.S. browser market.

"This is quite a coup for Google as they have gone from zero to almost 10% of the US market in under two years," said Aodhan Cullen, CEO, StatCounter.

"There is a battle royal going on between Google and Apple in the internet browser space (Chrome v Safari) as well as in the mobile market (Android v iPhone)."

Chrome had 8.97 percent of the U.S. browser market, edging out Safari which had 8.88 percent. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer still lead the U.S. browser market with 52 percent, followed by Firefox with 28.5 percent.

Globally Chrome has been well ahead of Safari for some time with 9.4% of the market compared to 4% for Safari. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has 53% of the global market followed by Firefox on 31%.