State of the Mobile Web, March 2010

When we first launched Opera Mini, we originally made it available in just two countries: Norway and Sweden. Of course, Opera is headquarted in Norway, and much of the Opera Mini development takes place in Sweden, our neighbor to the east. As test markets, these two candidates made perfect sense.

It should come as no surprise then that Opera Mini originally had a foothold in Europe and expanded outward. When we first published the State of the Mobile Web Report in May of 2008, Germany and Poland were both in the top 10 countries for Opera Mini users.

Nearly two years on and Opera Mini is truly global. Nearly every continent except South America, Australia and Antarctica is represented in our top 10 list. Now, if you want to track Germany and Poland, you will need to consult our periodic updates to the top European Union (EU) countries (where Poland and Germany are ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively, behind the United Kingdom).

Of course, the diminishing presence of EU countries in top 10 is really a testament to scorching growth rates in other countries. Poland and Germany both achieved more than 50% user growth during the previous year. During that same time, usage in Nigeria is up almost 400%. Vietnam vaulted into the top 10 after a growth spurt of more than 500%.

These numbers are more than just bragging rights; they are proof that the joint efforts of our industry matter. We can see with crystalline clarity that making the Web available to everyone, no matter where they are or how they choose to access it, makes a difference.

Happy browsing,

Jon von Tetzchner,
Co-founder, Opera Software

Part 1: Growth

Number of users

In March 2010, Opera Mini had over 55.2 million users, a 9.3% increase from February 2010 and up 140% compared to March 2009.

Pages transcoded

Opera Mini users viewed over 25.8 billion pages in March 2010. Since February, page views have gone up 17.4%. Since March 2009, page views have increased 200%.

Month	Page views
March 2010	25,898,747,364
February 2010	22,055,615,946
January 2010	23,356,863,511
December 2009	20,719,112,062
November 2009	18,814,158,683
October 2009	17,179,459,019
September 2009	14,958,270,625
August 2009	13,949,154,395
July 2009	12,051,716,351
June 2009	10,447,031,428
May 2009	9,641,002,614
April 2009	8,687,835,336
March 2009	8,627,181,759
February 2009	7,347,728,912
January 2009	7,592,623,125
December 2008	6,418,665,392
November 2008	5,703,580,103
October 2008	5,088,923,679
September 2008	4,533,894,901
August 2008	4,172,941,429
July 2008	3,736,244,111
June 2008	3,224,286,622
May 2008	2,947,979,866
April 2008	2,491,451,387

Data consumed

In March 2010, Opera Mini users generated over 396 million MB of data for operators worldwide. Since February, the data consumed went up by 19.8%. Data in Opera Mini is compressed up to 90%. If this data were uncompressed, Opera Mini users would have viewed over 3.6 petabytes of data in March. Since March 2009, data traffic is up 166%.

Month	Data transfer (MB)
March 2010	396,171,723
February 2010	330,601,107
January 2010	337,088,690
December 2009	315,150,762
November 2009	285,126,819
October 2009	263,245,795
September 2009	226,990,071
August 2009	208,786,577
July 2009	186,996,258
June 2009	168,483,963
May 2009	159,545,769
April 2009	151,023,302
March 2009	148,884,676
February 2009	124,835,298
January 2009	122,005,065
December 2008	103,144,185
November 2008	91,084,753
October 2008	79,167,872
September 2008	70,095,676
August 2008	64,853,884
July 2008	57,824,328
June 2008	50,181,823
May 2008	46,273,165
April 2008	38,264,066

Part 2: Country snapshots for March 2010

Part 3: Spotlight on the European Union

Top 10 countries snapshot

Part 4: Global handset rankings (March 2010)

Part 5: iPhone impact preview

On April 13th, Apple approved Opera Mini for use on the iPhone. Since then, we have reported that Opera Mini was downloaded more than one million times in its first day of availability, and it was the number one iPhone app in multiple app stores run by Apple. The response has been tremendous, resulting in many new Opera Mini users — whether they use the iPhone or other handsets compatible with Opera Mini. Those iPhone users waiting for the opportunity to choose Opera got their wish, and we continue to reach out to the millions of non-iPhone users out there who stand to benefit from Opera Mini’s speed, versatility, and power.

Here is a brief preview of some iPhone-related usage data from April. We hope it will give you a sense of how the Opera Mini on iPhone announcement changed the landscape of the mobile Web.

(Note: The statements below are based on approximately half a month of data.)

• The Apple iPhone is the #3 device used by Opera Mini users worldwide. All the other top 20 devices are Nokia and Sony Ericsson handsets.
• The Apple iPhone is the #1 device used by Opera Mini users in the United States, well ahead of BlackBerry (which previously occupied the top spot).
• By mid-April, the United States jumped from #8 to #5 in the top 10 countries list.
• Out of the top 10 countries according to Opera Mini usage, the United States and the United Kingdom are the two countries where the Apple iPhone has become the #1 device used by Opera Mini users. Beyond the top 10 countries, Australia, Korea, Canada, Germany and Japan are other examples of places where the iPhone has become the device of choice for Opera Mini users.

Further details will be shared in the next State of the Mobile Web report. Subscribe using the form in the sidebar above.