Opera Mini for iPhone - Zero to 1 million downloads in one day

Who said there wasn't demand for a third-party browser on the iPhone platform?

Apple said “Yes”, and iPhone users around the world said, “Yes, please”. Opera Mini was downloaded more than one million times in its first day of availability in each market. Opera Mini is currently the number one iPhone app in the 22 featured Apple App Stores on their site, as of 8 a.m. CET today.

"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," said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. "With any widely available and frequently downloaded Opera product, we are appreciative of all the feedback we are getting, as it helps us to continually improve our product and better meet the needs of our users."

Why is it better than the bundled Safari browser? Speed and cost-effectiveness are the conerstones of its success.

Initial previews of the browser garnered rave reviews, indicating that Opera Mini delivers up to six times the speed, especially on congested networks, and significant Web-page compression to keep roaming and pay-per-MB costs at a minimum.

App Store analytics firm Distimohas more stats:

• Ranked in the Top Overall free in 86 countries, among which the United States
• Ranked #1 Top Overall free in 69 countries
• Ranked #1 Productivity in 82 countries

I'm testing Opera Mini for iPhone right now and so far I'm impressed!