The Japanese and Chinese web industries keep getting closer together. Yesterday Tokyo-based Internet behemoth CyberAgent (currently listed at the Tokyo Stock Exchange with a $1 billion market cap) announced it will take a 20% stake in mAPPn, an Android development firm with offices in China, Taiwan and the US (the press release in Japanese is here).
Financial details of the deal, which was handled by CyberAgent’s investment arm, weren’t disclosed. But CyberAgent says the agreement is aimed at marketing Android services and apps made in Japan to Chinese customers.
Established just in February last year, mAPPn Wireless has so far managed to churn out a Chinese-language Android OS, an app marketplace and a Chinese Android fan community (next to a number of self-developed apps).
CyberAgent claims that mAPPn OS has been installed on some 60% of all Android handsets in China and expects rapid growth in the future. mAPPn is also releasing apps for the iPhone.
The current tensions between Google and the Chinese government haven’t made a big impact on Android’s future in China so far, and even Google CFO Patrick Pichette still sees huge potential in that country. We’ll keep you posted on CyberAgent’s and mAPPn’s cooperation.
Serkan Toto