Opera buys mobile video optimization specialist and browser maker Skyfire for up to $155m
Opera revealed plans to transition its Web browsers to WebKit this week, and the Norwegian firm is making more moves after announcing the acquisition of Skyfire Labs, a mobile video optimization specialist …
Context & Ripple Effects
Opera's purchase of Skyfire follows its decision to adopt WebKit across its browsers, after a January preview of an Android and iPhone browser built on that engine. The two moves separate Opera's underlying rendering choice from the services it can add around the browser.
Opera's 2012 results had already shown mobile growing while desktop was flat. Skyfire brings experience optimizing mobile video, including browser technology that converted Flash video for devices lacking native Flash support, to a company whose user base had reached 300 million.
First-order effects
- Opera gains Skyfire's mobile-video optimization and browser expertise for up to $155 million, bringing a previously independent specialist inside its product organization.
- Skyfire's technology and team become assets Opera can apply across its browser portfolio rather than selling only as a standalone browser proposition.
Second-order effects
- A WebKit-based Opera can compete on media delivery and data-handling features rather than relying on a proprietary rendering engine for differentiation.
- Mobile-browser rivals face a clearer incentive to pair standards-based engines with proprietary services that improve video playback on constrained connections and devices.
Third-order effects
- If browser vendors continue standardizing on shared engines, competition shifts toward complementary layers such as optimization, cloud-assisted processing and distribution partnerships.
- The deal is evidence that browser makers may use acquisitions to own specialist capabilities that are difficult to recreate through engine choice alone.
The trend: Mobile browsers are moving toward shared web-engine foundations while differentiating through acquired, network-aware services around media and device constraints.