market share

noun

Definition of market share

: the percentage of the market for a product or service that a company supplies

Examples of market share in a Sentence

The company has gained market share in the past year. companies working to increase their market shares

Recent Examples on the Web

The browser never recovered, and given Chrome and Chromium’s massive market share, developers started prioritizing that engine instead. — Brad Chacos, PCWorld, "Microsoft Edge embraces open-source Chromium code, plans move to Windows 7, 8, and Macs," 6 Dec. 2018 Since its launch with Windows 10, Edge has failed to gain much market share. — Peter Bright, Ars Technica, "Report: Microsoft is scrapping Edge, switching to just another Chrome clone," 4 Dec. 2018 Microsoft’s Internet Explorer had drastically slashed Netscape Navigator’s market share. — Adi Robertson, The Verge, "Furby hell: this week in tech, 20 years ago," 24 Nov. 2018 The company has gained market share with more-desirable, higher-end computers, including gaming machines that can be more profitable. — Fortune, "HP Says It May Cut 5,000 Jobs by 2019, More Than Planned," 6 June 2018 More competition might prod companies to try harder to develop new products in the hope of gaining market share. — The Economist, "Fears that China has hurt innovation in the West are overblown," 3 May 2018 Natural gas is going to continue to take market share globally for a long period of time. — Rob Nikolewski, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Opportunities and challenges greet Jeff Martin, Sempra's new CEO," 29 Apr. 2018 The brand is gaining market share even as competitors have declined amid an overall industry decline in sales. — Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY, "Redesigned Subaru Forester SUV revealed at New York Auto Show," 28 Mar. 2018 In one industry after another, the biggest companies have increased their market share over the last 15 years. — Emily Stewart, Vox, "America’s monopoly problem, in one chart," 26 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'market share.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

18 Dec 2018

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The first known use of market share was in 1954

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More Definitions for market share

market share

noun

Financial Definition of market share

What It Is

Market share refers to a company's portion of sales within the entire market in which it operates. This metric indicates a company's size within its market.

How It Works

The formula for market share is:

Market Share = (Particular Company's Sales Revenue in Time Period X) / (Relevant Market's Total Sales Revenue in Time Period X)

Let's assume Company XYZ sells $50 million a year in widgets. If the total amount of widgets sold from all companies within the market totals $100 million, then Company XYZ has a market share equal to 50%.

Market Share = ($50 million) / ($100 million)

Why It Matters

As the market for a good or service grows, many analysts view the maintenance or increase in market share as a sign of a company's competitiveness. Increases in market share might come from innovation, broadening demographic appeal, lower prices, or simply advertising.

Sometimes a company garners too much market share and becomes part of an oligopoly or even becomes a monopoly. If this is the case, it could violate anti-trust laws and be ordered to divest assets or take some other action to increase competition.

Source: Investing Answers

market share

noun