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Opera Software's CEO Jon von Tetzchner has been able to get users to pay for a Web browser, which is a considerable achievement in a market that gives Web browsers away free, but Tetzchner says those who pay for the Opera browser do so because they want to contribute to the Opera community. They like the product and want to be a part of its continued success. In addition, Internet Explorer (IE) is not really free, since the price of Windows went up after the browser was added. About 100,000 Opera customers each pay about $39 per copy, which is one revenue stream. A third of Opera's revenue comes from desktop business, and on the non-PC side about 200,000 copies of the browser sold in 2002. The number sold rose to 2 million in 2003 and to 8.8 million in 2004. Opera has grown 30% each year just on the desktop, for almost ten years. From a staff of two employees, the company has grown to over 200. People are seeking an alternative to Internet Explorer (IE) in the PC market, and Tetzchner is sure that more people will want Opera on the desktop. The mobile market is expanding, and Opera began working on a full Web-compatible browser for handsets. Currently the browser works on most midrange to high end phones, and they can be adapted to any mobile platform. There is a browser for Microsoft's smartphones that is better than Microsoft's own mobile browser.
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