Droidcon India 2012

Present a case for Branded App Stores in India, the role of Android in enabling these stores and various initiatives & business models being adopted by different value chain players

Outline

Customized, branded app stores offer a lot of flexibility for OEMs/carriers. If implemented correctly and with a definitive purpose, a branded app store could be a powerful tool for OEMs/carriers. Along with being an extended brand promotion and consumer engagement tool, it can be a potential differentiator, increase device/service sales and revenues, help understand consumer usage behavior (thus, enabling user profiling and targeting), provide a platform to cross-sell and upsell products/services and act as a retention tool (potentially reducing churn).

A branded and curated app store will tackle the issue of discoverability for the consumer and also allow the OEM/carrier to promote a specific set of apps/content aligned with their brand promotional activities. In India, branded app stores are developed and offered as per OEM’s/carrier’s requirements either as one-time implementation or a managed/hosted service by niche OTT (Over-The-Top) technology providers (such as ‘Borqs’, a niche Android solutions provider).

Speaker bio

Jayanth Kolla - Partner, Convergence Catalyst:

Jayanth brings over a decade of experience in Technology, Product Marketing, Research and Strategy Consulting in the Telecom Networks, Mobile Devices and Mobile VAS domains. He has held various roles in Telecom Carriers, Handset Manufacturers and Management Consulting firms.

He was involved in the roll-out of India’s first rural wireless telephone network for a private carrier, implementing SHLR, testing of CDMA devices & FWTs, successful rollout of multiple GSM and CDMA handsets, developing multiple MVAS product offering & business growth plans and telecom research & advisory (comprising market entry, business growth strategy & investment advisory) for various players across the value chain.

His areas of expertise are Product Marketing, Market Research & Analysis, Tracking and Publishing on current Telecom Trends.

Having worked for key players in the Telecom industry, Jayanth brings invaluable domain knowledge that spans across Product, Consumer, Distribution and Retail. Companies Jayanth has previously worked for include Tata Teleservices, Kyocera Wireless, Motorola, Nokia and Analysys Mason.

Slides

http://www.convergencecatalyst.com/blog/2012/05/10/is-india-ready-for-customized-and-branded-mobile-app-stores/