You may not have heard of Chinese company Sungy Mobile, but you probably know of the product it developed: GO Launcher, an Android app launcher that replaces the stock launcher on Android smartphones. After all, the launcher has occupied top spot in the Personalization category on Google Play in more than 30 countries, and carries a 4.5/5 rating.
Now, Sungy Mobile has acquired California-based company GetJar, which operates an appstore and an ad network that allows app advertisers to reach publishers. GetJar says it has the “biggest open appstore in the world, currently listing 805, 782 apps with more than 3 million downloads per day.” The company also helps mobile developers around the world monetize and distribute their apps and is behind what it says is the “largest virtual currency on Google Play, Getjar Gold.”
Sungy Mobile is paying $5.3 million in cash for GetJar — and this comes just a few months after the company listed on NASDAQ with a total offering size of $78.54 million. CEO Deng Yuqiang says that acquiring GetJar will help boost Sungy Mobile’s efforts in mobile advertising.
It speaks volumes about the Chinese company’s desire to develop its business globally, given that GetJar is Sungy Mobile’s first international acquisition, according to Deng.
Sungy Mobile has come a long way. The company also created a GO platform built upon the GO Launcher, introducing other GO series products, and started mobile Internet portal 3G.cn, as well as 3G Book Market, a large mobile reading service in China. It claims 80 million monthly active users across all its apps.
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Headline image via Etnyk / Flickr
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