In an attempt to expend the reach of its fledging Chrome browser, Google has worked out a deal with Sony Corp, whereby the Internet search giant will be able to ship Chrome with the Sony PCs sold in North America. The agreement has already competed a test-run phase spanning two years. 

Google’s Chrome browser, which was launched last year, has a comparatively much smaller market share than competing products – particularly Internet Explorer by Microsoft and Firefox by Mozilla.

Refusing to divulge the details of the Google-Sony deal – including the financial aspect as well as the terms pertaining to which Sony PC model will feature the pre-installed Chrome browser -, all that Google spokesperson Eitan Bencuya revealed was that the deal went into effect this summer; and, in May, Sony started installing Chrome in PCs shipped for North America’s markets.

Google is also negotiating such Chrome installation-specific deals with some other PC vendors; and is considering additional options for increasing Chrome's market share. As per the statistics forwarded by Net Applications, Chrome has a mere 2.59 percent browser market share, as against the market leader Internet Explorer’s 67.7 percent share; Firefox’s 22.5 percent; and Safari’s 4.1 percent.

In a statement, Google said: “Users' response to Google Chrome has been outstanding, and we're continuing to explore ways to make Chrome accessible to even more people.”