TCL unit, App Annie joining hands for bigger global reach

App Annie, a leading mobile data and analytics service provider, said on Friday that it has teamed up with Shenzhen Hawk Internet Co Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TCL Corp, to help the latter expand its presence in overseas markets, especially in countries and regions participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Statistics from App Annie showed the downloads of Hawk Internet' apps in India, Brazil and the United States have witnessed rapid growth, and the Shenzhen-based innovative internet company said it doubled its investment in economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative last year.

Dai Bin, App Annie's director of China affairs, said: "The downloads of Chinese apps in the Belt and Road economies accounted for 55 percent of the total overseas market in 2017, compared with 47 percent in 2015."

Dai said Chinese app developers have ramped up their efforts in overseas expansion, particularly the economies relating to the Belt and Road Initiative, and effective app analytics and insights have become crucial.

The US-headquartered App Annie will offer app data and analysis support to Hawk Internet's globalization strategy.

"We can learn about the latest trends in the mobile internet industry around the world by virtue of App Annie, which can also analyze the sizes of different markets, as well as targeted user groups," said Sun Liang, vice-president of TCL and chief executive officer of Hawk Internet.

The company hopes to accelerate its global expansion more quickly and efficiently, even though it is facing severe challenges from domestic internet giants in the overseas market, Sun said.

Founded in June 2016, Hawk Internet has gained nearly 100 million users in more than 200 countries and regions such as the US, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Turkey and Germany.

Super Cleaner, a tool-oriented cleaning app owned by Hawk Internet, was among App Annie's 2017 list of 30 most popular apps in the Belt and Road Initiative markets. China remained the world's largest app market in 2017, accounting for about one quarter of the world's total app-related consumption, App Annie pointed out in an earlier report.

Globally, Chinese gaming and social media giant Tencent Holdings Ltd and Net-Ease Inc outperformed peers last year in revenue generated by downloading and using their apps.