Opera claims 100 million users worldwide

Opera has announced that it now has 100 million users worldwide split equally between its desktop and mobile products.

The Norwegian browser developer said that the new figure represents year-on-year growth of 30 per cent from March 2009.

Opera also said that it has an unspecified number of users accessing the browser from games consoles, connected TVs and set-top boxes.

The company put the success on the desktop down to the launch of Opera 10.5x. The browser uses a JavaScript engine called Carakan, which Opera claims is seven times faster than the SunSpider system used in its previous browser.

Pål Unanue-Zahl, communications manager at Opera, explained that Microsoft's recently introduced browser ballot page is having a positive impact.

"We are seeing increases in download numbers from countries where the choice screen has been introduced. Also, based on the different countries and times of the rollout, we are seeing different patterns of downloads," he said.

Unanue-Zahl attributed much of Opera's success on the mobile side to the fact that it works on smartphones and regular mobile devices.

"With Opera Mini you don't need a smartphone to access the full web. What drives people to Opera Mini is a desire to get the web on whatever device is available," he said.

Opera is still waiting for a response from Apple as to whether its Opera Mini for iPhone application will be accepted in the App Store. The application was submitted 19 days ago but Unanue-Zahl confirmed that Opera had yet to hear anything.