You can almost hear the voice of Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers’ films as you read the headline.
100 million.
That’s how many people now use the Opera browser each month on their mobile phones.
According to Thursday’s State of the Mobile Web report from Opera, 90.4 million people now use Opera Mini every month. Another 15 million people use Opera Mobile each month. All told, roughly 105 million people now use Opera on their phones.
The total number of Opera Mini users ballooned by 40.6 million between January 2010 and January 2011,
“Experts all have some date when they claim the mobile Web will overtake the PC web – we’re watching that transition now,” said Jon von Tetzchner, Co-founder of Opera Software.
“But, rather than think of numbers, we think of people. 100 million is the beginning of a new era for the Web. In the next few years, hundreds of millions of people will take their first baby steps online. They will make their voices heard across their country and around the world. They will not only discover new ideas, but contribute their own. We defend those voices and celebrate those ideas. It is why we believe access to the Web is a universal right, and no device is more universal than a mobile phone.”
On the heels of Opera Software’s major milestone, the company seized the opportunity to announce big plans for the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
According to a press release from Opera Software, new versions of the Opera Mini browser on Android, iPhone, J2ME, BlackBerry, Symbian and even the iPad will appear at MWC.
