Interview mit Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO bei Opera
04.04.2004
Diese Woche berichtet Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO bei Opera Software, über die Gegenwart und Zukunft von Opera.
What were the main reasons for you to create a browser back in 1995?
Because we believed we could do better than what was available at the time. In fact the work started in April 1994.
Opera made some big deals in mobile market in 2003. How's Operas share in this market?
This really depends on how you define the market. If you include WAP and imode browsers, Opera's market share is tiny. If you only consider full web browsers, I believe we have the biggest market share at this time.
Will there be more (big) deals with handheld companies, especially for MS operating systems?
We do not consider MS OS to be a big market opportunity for us on the handheld side. We believe we can do business, but this is MS territory.
When it comes to other handheld and mobile OS, we will be working hard to get a good market share and we have high hopes.
What's the more important market for Opera, PC or mobile? And how important are they (maybe in %)?
The different markets work together. Our desktop market is expanding and our desktop product helps us provide better offerings for mobile and TV use as they all use the same source code.
The help we get from the community on the desktop is core in providing great products across the board.
In revenue terms, desktop revenues continue to increase, but we are seeing the biggest growth in the mobile and TV space.
Don't you fear the public listing will be to the detriment of Opera?
No. We will now be expanding more rapidly and we will be working hard to provide better products across the board.
What will change at Opera after public listing?
Our aim is to keep focus on product quality and happy customers. During the last few years we have seen a steady growth in revenue as a result, and we will continue to work in the same way, with added resources available.
Can you tell us something about Operas future, like upcoming releases or deals?
I am afraid not. You do know about the latest TPs, like 7.50 and we have a policy at Opera to not talk about things until they are ready. I can promise, however, that there is a lot of fun things in the pipeline. Now that we have some more resources, things will be happening even faster.
German users are really interested in native language support. Any chance to get it?
We are looking into possibilities, but I can not anything promise at this stage. It is something we would have liked to do, however.
