Glance, a smart lock screen platform, and subsidiary of InMobi Group, is looking to make gradual headway in Android smartphones. The company founded in 2019, is already present in over 450 million Android smartphones globally including – India, USA, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia among others.
At present, India is amongst its biggest markets with over 235 million users and counting. Contrary to popular beliefs the company says it is not just about being present in budget phones, but about providing users with a non-invasive way to provide not only information but also give a freshness to their phone every time he/she unlocks their phone.
Bikash Chowdhury, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Glance told Financial Express Online, almost 80 percent of new Android phones sold in India have Glance incorporated in it.
It is important to note that Glance is incorporated at Android Rom level, which means that a user cannot just simply download it from the Playstore or install it in any smartphone. The integration is done in-tandem with a Smartphone maker, which means any new partnership will take a minimum of 6-8 months to see Glance being rolled out in their devices.
Glance already counts the likes of Samsung, Jio, Oppo, Vivo, Motorola, Realme, Xiaomi, Softbank, Transsion Holdings, Gionee and Huawei among its partners. It is also present in few flagship models in the Japanese market. He said that the idea is to deepen relationships in developed markets, be it partnering with smartphone makers or telecom operators and reach more and more users.
“Our focus will be on Japan and USA market, we are also looking at European markets, off course we will pick specific markets depending on our partnerships. And then over the course of period we will expand other markets.”
Interestingly, the company works with a variety of business to come out with innovative promotional content (non-invasive) and has worked with various global brands across segments such as – Unilever, Coco Cola, Kellogs, Red Bull, Pepsi, Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, Tata Motors, CEAT, Volkswagen, Honda and Skoda among others.
When asked about new innovations and business models he said that there is a lot of possibilities that are not yet rolled out. He said Glance can be looked as infrastructure “where many things can happen. Today you are seeing brands and advertisers are taking advantage of the ecosystem to bring their stories to the consumers. Tomorrow, we may work with merchants, e-commerce for transactions, a consumer may be able to pay his/her bills through the merchants app facilitated through Glance lock screen.”
