InMobi's Glance sees active user base in India at 173 mn in Q4 2021

Inmobi’s business to commerce company Glance’s active user base in India touched 173 million in Q4 2021, according to Counterpoint Research’s Quarterly Mobile Application Tracker. The platform added 33 million total active users to grow 24 per cent from Q1 2021 to Q4 2021.

Counterpoint’ Research Analyst Arushi Chawla said, “Glance has become the first touchpoint for users interacting with their devices, removing barriers such as search and multiple app downloads. This has uniquely positioned Glance for growth driven by high engagement. In addition, the AI capabilities of Glance have been helping users discover relevant content, further increasing stickiness to the platform.”

On the content strategy, Chawla noted, “Glance has been diversifying across genres and languages. Glance has accumulated content from top creators and developers across categories including sports, fashion, gaming, fitness, commerce and entertainment to enhance the experience for users. Glance has also made a foray into the live interactive content category, further diversifying its offerings. This is becoming even more relevant, as content consumption and creation on smartphones are on the rise.”

In terms of OEMs, Glance has been expanding its partnerships with top brands and devices across price segments. In October 2021, Glance partnered with the third largest smartphone brand in India—realme. Further, as of Q4 2021, two-thirds of the newly launched smartphones in India had the Glance lockscreen platform preinstalled.

In terms of share across price bands, $150-$250 continued to be the largest segment for Glance. Close to two-thirds of Glance’s active user base falls in the $150 and above price band. The average selling price of smartphones in India is increasing. Penetration in the higher price segments positions Glance well to capture the increasing replacement demand in the Indian smartphone market in the future.

Looking forward, Glance will continue to expand its OEM partnerships in India. It has signed an agreement to raise $200 million from Jio Platforms. Concurrent with this funding deal, Glance has entered a partnership with Reliance Retail Ventures under which Glance’s lockscreen platform’ will be integrated into Jio’s Pragati OS (the JioPhone Next operating system). This will further expand its market reach. Glance will also seek to strengthen user touchpoints and expand to key international markets beyond Asia.