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Opera Mini usage continues to grow, according to NetApplications

Published June 6th, 2007 5:30 PM EDT By Daniel Goldman

The new browser statistics for the month of May from Hits/NetApplications show a continued growth in usage of the Opera Mini browser.

According to the latest stats, Opera Mini had 0.16% of the total browser market share (including desktop), up form 0.13% in the previous month. Although the increase seems relatively low and insignificant, looking at the picture of how Opera Mini, a mobile browser, is inching up in the charts in the territory of big-boy browsers (IE, Firefox, and Opera), makes it more impressive.

Since Opera Mini processes all the pages on its servers before sending it to the browser (in order to reformat and reduce the size of the page), Opera can see how much the browser is actually used. As of about a month ago, Opera Mini served up more than 5.2 billion pages since it was released 16 months ago.

Besides for the regular word-of-mouth spreading of Opera Mini, here are some other factors that may have contributed to the increase in usage over the past month.

  1. On May 5th, an article in the Telegraph newspaper highly recommended downloading the free Opera Mini browser, saying it “is the best phone web browser by far.”
  2. The Opera Mini team also announced that a new beta, codenamed ‘Dimension’, will be out later, which resulted in a nice amount of Opera Mini coverage throughout the blogosphere.
  3. Also In May, Sun Microsystems and Opera announced that Opera Mini is the most popular Java application on mobile phones.
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2 Comments

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  1. 1 Pallab Jun 6th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    “is the best phone web browser by far.”

    Sounds a bit dubious. Shouldnt Opera Mobile be better than Opera mini?
    Opera mini is best browser for low end phones. Its also the best free browser for mobiles.

  2. 2 Dante Jun 7th, 2007 at 12:56 am
    using Opera Opera 9.21 on Windows Windows XP

    @Pallab Yeah, even OW loses context on those quotes. In this case, the “free” word in the paragraph above.

    Nice job on the “Dimension” campaign, btw. We’re all nervous wrecks.

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Opera Watch, an Opera browser blog, is run by Daniel Goldman, who used to work for Opera Software as a Technical Evangelist.

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About Opera


Q: What is Opera?
A: Opera is one of the most powerful Web browsers around. A Web browser is the program that allows you to view Web pages. Opera is well known for innovation for PC browsers and bringing the full web to mobile phones and devices.

Q: Is Opera free?
A: Absolutely free.

Q: Why should I download a browser? Doesn't my computer already come with one for free?
A: It's about getting more out of the time you spend on the internet. Opera is designed to be much faster than these browsers and gives you powerful features that the default browser lacks. Default browsers like Internet Explorer are also more likely to be subjected to dangerous software such as viruses and spyware.

Q: Will Opera keep me safe from fraudulent websites and malicious hackers?
A: According to Secunia, a respected firm that tracks security in browsers, Opera has the best reputation and track record when it comes to browser security. Keeping our users safe from security vulnerabilities, fraudulent websites, and malicious hackers is a top priority for Opera. Opera is maintained by hundreds of engineers, developers and security experts who are constantly looking to make the browser even safer.

Q: Doesn't Opera copy all of their features from other browsers?
A: Absolutely not. In fact, many of the features that are popular in other browsers today were invented and pioneered by Opera a long time ago. Opera invented the precursor to tabs (in 1994), Page Zoom (1994), was the first browser to block pop-up ads (2000), first to add a Search field in the browser toolbar (2000), Sessions (1996), deleting private data (2000), Mouse Gestures (2000), User JavaScript (2005), BitTorrent support (2005), Widgets (2006), Speed Dial (2007), and much more.

Q: Does Opera support extensions, such as those found in Firefox?
A: Much of the functionality provided through Firefox extensions is already built directly into Opera, so you don't have to download additional extensions in Opera. In addition, Opera is highly customizable and supports all standard plug-ins.

Q: Can I also use Opera on my mobile phone?
A: Yes. And your Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS or almost any connected device and mobile phones. Opera Mobile oftens comes preinstalled from the manufacturers, but if it doesn't you can install Opera Mini which runs on nearly all phones.

Q: This all sounds great, so how do I download Opera?
A: -- Opera on your computer
-- Opera Mini on your phone
-- Opera Mobile on your phone
-- or learn more about Opera at www.opera.com