In June we told you that GetJar, an independent multi-platform mobile app store, had raised $11 million from Accel Partners in the company’s second round of funding. GetJar has wisely marketed its services internationally in the past and today the company has announced a partnership with Virgin Mobile India to bring its app store to the country’s massive mobile market.
With over 75,000 applications available in over 200 countries GetJar has quickly become the second largest mobile app store, bested only by Apple’s App Store. When you browse to GetJar’s homepage on your mobile divice, the service detects which phone you are using and tailors a market of apps that work specifically on your device. This is especially handy for BlackBerry, Symbian and feature phone platforms whose device fragmentation can make app compatibility a large headache.
By partnering with Virgin Mobile India, GetJar is actually making its second foray into the Indian market. In April of this year, the San Mateo-based company joined forces with Reliance Communications, India’s largest CDMA and GSM service provider, to create India’s largest mobile app store. GetJar further tightens its grip on the large Indian mobile market with today’s announcement.
Younger users make up a large percentage of feature phone and mobile app users, so it makes sense that GetJar would partner with a youth-centric carrier like Virgin. “We look forward to garnering a significant mindshare amongst the youth with this alliance,” says GetJar CEO and founder Ilja Laurs.
“Mobile applications and games garner a significant share of time spent on the phone by the youth today,” says Virgin Mobile India CEO M. A. Madhusudan. “This alliance with GetJar is an initiative in line with our strategy to engage and enthrall the youth with the latest innovative cutting-edge content on the move.”
Last month we mentioned how GetJar’s CMO Patrick Mork predicted 50 billion app downloads across all mobile app stores by 2012 – a number twice that of market research predictions for 2015. Whichever estimation is more accurate, the mobile app market is certainly booming, and at 3 million downloads per day, GetJar is a major player flying under many people’s radars.
