Hitting the Right Note?

My experience with the Opera browser is limited to two devices not usually associated with web browsing: the Nintendo Wii and a Motorolla Razor. The browser performed well on both devices but my overall usage was limited to checking sports scores or watching You Tube videos on TV. I lacked data for a good, fair comparison to other web browsers.

Opera's been pioneering web surfing innovation since 1996 according to the Wikipedia. With more than a decade of experience, strong investment and smart technology, I'd expect Opera to be a market leader. Instead, the browser maxes out at 2 percent share of the browsing market, which leads to the question: "Why?"

Why has the browser failed to gain traction as a desktop app like Firefox, Safari or IE? This blogger offers various reasons but I think #5 might be the strongest argument. What is the compelling reason to switch to Opera? I have no idea. The brand is well known but I don't know much about it. The growth catalysts behind Safari and IE are obvious. And Firefox, knighted by IT nerds, is an alternative for powers users that customize their browsers and want a higher level of security (maybe the security part isn't even true, I don't know,  but Firefox embraces the public assumption regardless). Even a hood-open comparison revealed Opera performs as well or better than Firefox.

I'm interested to hear our speaker address this issue. Does Opera need better programmers or better marketers? I suspect the latter.