Within millions of new internet users coming online in India
(mobile first), there is big competition to be the platform of choice for users
to take their first steps on the internet. India is very big market for Google
and Facebook, two major players who are competing to be the first for new
Indian internet users. Some numbers
released recently show that Facebook dominates in India. Indians love the
social site and really love Facebook’s WhatsApp, which has 55 million monthly
hours spent. Google so far has a solid
lead in utilities and video apps, owing mostly to YouTube.
The space where Google is not in the lead is the mobile
browser space. The UC browser, which Alibaba acquired last year, is beating Google’s
Chrome in India, with over five million more monthly hours of use. Alibaba’s
stripped-down browser takes fourth place. Google’s big advantage over Facebook
is its mobile browser and Google can leverage that advantage to capture
internet users in India first. However, with competition from Alibaba, Google
needs to define its competitive advantage to score in the Indian market.
Mobile data costs are high in India and are often the prohibitive
factor when it comes to getting more users on a web browser or a social
network. Google has been pushing to come out with lighter, even off-line
versions of its products. The company has recently unveiled an update to the
data-saving mode for mobile Chrome that will roll out first in Indonesia and
India.
Given that challenges in India are more centered on data
costs, companies have to focus on lighter versions of their products that are
easy to load and consume significantly less data. Google is already pushing in
that direction and it will be interesting to see how Facebook and other players
design an India-focused strategy that relies on modified mobile versions of
their products.
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