U.S. next focus of Web browser maker Opera

The Norwegian company has been concentrating on the European and Asian markets, but that’s about to change, writes Seattle Times.

The 13-year-old Oslo, Norway-based browser maker has struggled to lift its U.S. market share above 1 percent. But it is looking to change that with a marketing campaign to begin this spring and better integration with its mobile browsers, where the company has had more success, reports Seattle Times.

Rod Hamlin, Opera senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Americas based in Mountain View, Calif., discussed the market and his company’s ambitions during a visit to Seattle last week. Opera has 700 employees globally including 50 in North America and one in Redmond.

Opera started in 1994 as a research project inside Norway’s largest telecom company, Telenor. Within a year, it branched out into an independent development company named Opera Software ASA.