2014, August 22
Umeng (友盟) is Beijing-based company providing the most comprehensive, multi-platform data analytics services of the mobile phone users behavior. A vast majority of Chinese mobile app development companies are Umeng’s clients. It is estimated that Umeng’s SDK is embedded inside 180’000 mobile apps in China.
Company led by former Google employee Jiang Fan was created in April 2010, and it became visible already in November 2010 when it attracted funding by Li Kaifu‘s venture capital fund Innovation Works. And more recently, in April 2013, Umeng was acquired by Alibaba for (estimated) $80M, but retained a separate brand and management structure.
So, what are exactly the services provided by this company?
- Data Analytics
As application developer, you will probably like to know how many new users you are getting, what time of the day they launch your app, how long on average they spend on it, and various trends over last weeks or months. As part of your subscription to Umeng’s services you are entitled to the analytical dashboard with about 60 metrics.
- Development tools
In addition to the base SDK for the analytics, Umeng also provides interface components for social networks like Weibo, QQ and Weixin, for the push messages or your end users’ feedback, as well as the application services during the whole application lifecycle (development, publishing, promotion and maintenance).
- Application developers alliance
Membership in the alliance of mobile app developers, which facilitates and standardizes the online advertisement channels, and utlimately helps adjust your advertising strategy based on the user behavior.
- Insight Reports
This quarterly report covers entire China’s mobile phone user base and is invaluable source of information on the market behavior: per city tier or province, per O/S or telephone brand, per telecom provider, or per application category. All this is followed by analysis of trends and conclusions.
In the end, all these services are provided at no charge. The company didn’t anwer to my query on their revenues, but it is clear that Umeng’s vast database of mobile customers behaviour is of enormous value to its parent company Alibaba who is fighting fiercely for the dominance in the mobile e-commerce market.
And why is all this important for us here in Europe? Well, first of all, China is the world’s largest mobile phone market. And maybe you would like your products to get in the newsfeeds of those millions of Chinese tourists who are texting messages and sending photos while travelling across Europe. And in the end a curious fact – half of the data generated from their apps seems to be coming from outside China..
Recommended reading:
– Latest Umeng’s report on smartphone use in China (requires registration) or the same document in Slideshare
– Interview with Jiang Fan (in Chinese)