Opera Software expects more than 100 million Android phones to be shipped with its Opera Max data saving app on board by 2017.

The app is said to reduce data consumption of Android apps by as much as 50 per cent, by compressing data, photos and videos to help load content faster “without a noticeable loss of quality”.

Currently 14 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) including Samsung and Xiaomi have embedded Opera Max on their smartphones.

This number has grown as Opera is now partnering with Asian OEMs Acer, Hisense and TWZ.

“Many users are wary of using mobile data for fear of spending too much or exceeding their data caps. We see OEMs responding to this and stepping up to lower the barrier to mobile internet access by providing a data-optimisation solution on their devices,” said Sergey Lossev, product manager.

“Compression technology is the key to migrating the next billion mobile internet users to the smartphones, and solutions like Opera Max directly help users deal with the challenging mobile infrastructure and expensive data packages,” he added.

Opera is also working with manufacturers like Cherry Mobile, Evercoss, Fly, Mobiistar, Micromax, Oppo, Prestigio, Symphony and Tecno.

The app is also available as a free download from Google Play.