Opera is the world’s number one mobile browser, overtaking iPhone in May according to data from StatCounter GlobalStats. In May Opera took 24.6% of the worldwide market compared to 22.3% for iPhone. Nokia retains third place with 17.9%. However, if one includes iPod Touch then Apple browsers still lead with iPod Touch alone taking 14.9% of the market in May.
StatCounter, which provides free website traffic analysis, is one of the largest web analytics companies in the world recording in excess of ten billion pageloads per month. In March it launched StatCounter GlobalStats, a free online service which captures market share of search engines, browsers and operating systems including mobile.
“Opera began the year in number one slot but iPhone overtook it in February. May saw Opera regain the number one position,” commented Aodhan Cullen, CEO and founder of StatCounter. “It will be fascinating to watch how this battle plays out over the year.”
He drew attention to the performance of BlackBerry which is in fourth place with 6.9% of the global market. “An interesting finding is that BlackBerry has steadily increased market share from 4.9% in January to 6.9% in May. Despite the global recession it looks as if executives are holding on to their BlackBerries,” commented Cullen.
The StatCounter research data is based on four billion pageloads per month. Other regional and country breakdowns can be viewed here.