Opera Mini for iPhone hits a million downloads

Opera Mini for iPhone is the most downloaded free application on the App Store in 22 countries

Over one million users of Apple's iPhone have flocked to download Opera Mini from the App Store after it was approved on Tuesday.

Opera said that 1,023,380 downloads of the application had been recorded, making it the most downloaded free application on the App Store in 22 countries including the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan.

Opera unveiled the app at Mobile World Congress in February, claiming that it would provide six times faster browsing speeds than Apple's Safari, and would reduce roaming and pay-per-megabyte charges owing to its compression technology.

Lars Boilesen, chief executive of Opera, claimed that he was not surprised by the application's success given the benefits it presents for iPhone users.

"Today, iPhone users have a choice and, as the numbers show, they are eager to explore new and faster ways to surf the web on the iPhone, especially during heavy web traffic," he said.

Tony Cripps, an analyst with Ovum, said the figures show that many iPhone users are keen to move away from Apple's native Safari browser.

"The figures demonstrate that the popularity of Opera's technology clearly extends to iPhone users, many of whom will have used Opera Mini on previous devices and are keen to see whether it can deliver a better browsing experience, " he said.

The figures are yet more good news for Opera, after it announced earlier this week that it now has 100 million users worldwide split equally between its desktop and mobile products.