Opera Software

The Opera Software ASA is the developer of the browser software Opera, Opera Mini and Coast. The company also operates the mobile ad service Opera MediaWorks. The company headquarters is located in Oslo, Norway.

History

The company " Opera Software " was founded on August 30, 1995 by Geir Ivarsøy and Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner. The two were previously employees in the research department of Telenor been in Kjeller, where they had for Telenor developed a precursor of the browser with the project name " Kind reader MultiTorg Opera ". When this project, however, reduced by Telenor for reasons of cost and postponed indefinitely, managed both to take over the rights to the program and so they started their own company to develop the program further. Already in 1997 the new company released its first official version of Opera 2.1 for Windows.

Since 11 March 2004, the Company's shares are traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange. At that time, the company had about 150 employees. In addition to the office in Norway maintained two offices in Sweden. In 2005, offices were added in China, Japan and the United States. In the following year, further offices were opened in India, Poland and South Korea. In late 2006 the company had 374 employees. By the end of 2008, the number rose to 627 employees.

Already in the year of the IPO, the range of personal computers contributed only a third of the sales of the company and went the following year even back temporarily, while the rest of the turnover is made ​​with other Internet-enabled devices such as mobile phones, game consoles and set -top boxes.

Today, the company is focused by its own account on the development of the browser for desktop computers, mobile phones, PDAs and home media sector as well as to the claim of "My Opera Community ".

Beginning of January 2010 took over from Lars Boilesen co-founder Jon S. von Tetzchner as Managing Director of Opera Software ASA.