Chart Of The Week
In this Chart of The Week we will look at how Opera Mini browser is performing. In its recently published article cnet.com reports that Opera Mini will be the default browser for Microsoft's feature phones. This is a step forward for Opera Mini, but to what extent will this influence Opera's position on the mobile browser market? Let's take a look.
Mobile Browsers: Global Market Share
Looking at the above graph we can see that Opera Mini (colour-coded purple) is the 4th most popular mobile browser with a market share of around 4%. This is global data and popularity may vary, depending on the individual market. On the global scale Mobile Safari appears to be the undisputed leader with a 55% market share followed by Android browser with 18% of the market. The closest competitors for Opera Mini are: Chrome Mobile with over 15% market share and Chrome for iOS with around 1.5% of the market share. 4% on the global scale is not a bad result. But just how popular is Opera Mini on Nokia devices?
Most Popular Browsers On Nokia Phones Worldwide
The vast majority of Nokia devices use mobile IE as the browser of choice which is not surprising given Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia. Opera Mini only accounts for approximately 12% of the market share, which makes it the 2nd most popular browser on Nokia devices. So far it looks as if there is some potential. The affected devices are: Asha series, S30 and S40 series. Let's narrow down our data set and see what browsers are now in use on those devices.
Most popular browsers on Nokia Asha phones (June 2014 Data)
Nokia Asha phones certainly look good for Opera Mini. Only a handful of people use Opera Mini on Asha phones and OVI browser appears to be most popular, therefore there room for expansion.
Nokia S30 and S40 series phones also tend to favour OVI, Series 40 and UC browsers.
Conclusion
From the data it certainly appears to be a good opportunity for Opera Mini to expand it's user base. Although the amount of people using Asha, S30 and S40 series phones is small relative to the total population of mobile users, it still represents a population of several million people which is a welcome boost for any browser.