Opera Posts State of the Mobile Web Report, Touts iPhone Numbers

Although the acceptance of Opera Mini into the Apple App Store came as big surprise to many the fact that they are now reaping huge rewards because of its inclusion should not. According to Opera in just two weeks since the addition to the App Store the iPhone has already reached the slot of the third-most popular handset for Opera Mini users worldwide.

The full report is available from http://www.opera.com/smw/ (English only). In addition to a short preview of the iPhone’s impact, the report highlights global statistics, reviews the mobile browsing trends in the European Union (EU) and includes a look at worldwide handset metrics.

Opera at this time isn't releasing the full details of the the initial data from Opera Mini’s release on the iPhone. They are however promising that the preliminary numbers will be reviewed in greater depth and will be publish in April’s report next month.

Global trends

• In March 2010, Opera Mini had over 55.2 million users, a 9.3% increase from February 2010 and more than 140% compared to March 2009.
• Those 55.2 million people viewed more than 25.8 billion pages in March 2010. Since February, page views have gone up 17.4%. Since March 2009, page views have increased 200%.
• 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%.

iPhone impact preview

• The Apple iPhone is currently 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 currently the #1 device used by Opera Mini users in the United States, well ahead of BlackBerry (which previously occupied the top spot).
• Next month’s top 10 countries may be in for a change. By mid-April, due to the iPhone launch, 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.

Jon von Tetzchner, Co-founder, Opera Software say, “These numbers are more than just bragging rights; they are proof that the joint efforts of our industry matter.”

The success of a third party browser on the iPhone just goes to show that user want more openness and the ability to pick and choose the browser that want. Not be force feed Safari or other WebKit based browsers. Perhaps its time for Apple to rethink their running of the App Store.

Read more via the Opera Press Release