2011/1/5 Shamit Verma subs.linux.mum@vshamit.com:
On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 10:07 PM, Binand Sethumadhavan binand@gmail.comwrote:
I don't doubt that. My interest is in the actual numbers, which neither of the URLs you pasted mention. Opera in their annual report mentions that theirs is the most popular mobile browser in use globally.
They indeed made that statement, but it is not true. Opera conveniently distorted numbers to make these claims. For example:
Opera's market share : 20% iPhone browser : 17.5 iPod browser : 5.9%
What are the denominators used here? 20% of what?
Total iOS browser share: 23% this alone is higher than Opera (iPod and iPhone have the same browser. ). Total marketshare for WebKit based browsers is 65% (iOS + Nokia + Android+ Blackberry).
But then you are counting entire Blackberry under Webkit - which is probably not true (only recent Blackberries I believe, have Webkit-based browsers).
Also, Nokia uses Webkit only on S60 mobiles - the S40 and older mobiles all had non-Webkit browsers (my Nokia 6303 Classic came with Opera Mini pre-installed).
Lastly, Opera has a number of private-labeling deals with OEMs - in the Statcounter chart, there is an entry for Samsung, which is one such. I think Samsung's non-S60 mobiles all use Opera.
Mind you, I don't doubt Webkit is gaining popularity - Apple ported it to iOS, Nokia to S60, Google to Android - all large markets. But what I'm doubting is if it has already overtaken Opera.
Binand