The move into Taiwan represents the next phase in InMobi’s global expansion plans after setting up an office in Shanghai late last year.
InMobi will now directly service its Taiwanese clients like Estee Lauder, Godgame, Taiwan Mobile and China Airlines in order to strengthen advertiser-agency relationships.
“Our network data shows that Taiwan’s mobile space is growing at a rapid pace," said Phalgun Raju, regional director and general manager of Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan for InMobi. "Establishing an on-ground presence in Taiwan will let us capitalise on that growth.”
The Taiwanese mobile landscape is dominated by HTC with a 45.6 per cent market share and Samsung in second place with 20.4 per cent. Apple is the third most popular smartphone manufacturer with 11.2 per cent. Apple’s loss was Android’s gain as it became the top mobile operating system in 2011, benefitting HTC and Samsung.
In Taiwan, InMobi served 1 billion mobile ad impressions in the fourth quarter of 2011—a 15-fold increase over the same period in 2010.
Meanwhile in China, InMobi has appointed Text 100 Shanghai to deliver integrated public relations campaigns that will include a strategic communications framework, social media engagement, thought leadership and visibility programs across the mainland.
In a recent pitch, Text 100 Shanghai impressed InMobi with its creativity, passion, energy, enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit, according to Anita Swan, regional marketing director of Asia-Pacific at InMobi.
Bangalore-based InMobi is venture-backed by investors including SoftBank, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures.
