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Cne of Lhe Lyplcal mlsLakes developers make ls Lhlnklng LhaL because Lhey've had
success ln one corner of Lhe globe, Lhey should be able Lo employ Lhe same sLraLegy Lo
drlve adopLlon elsewhere. 1he LruLh of Lhe maLLer ls apps LhaL are wlldly successful ln
Lhe u.S., Lurope and !apan ofLen fall Lo galn subsLanLlal LracLlon ln areas llke lndla,
Afrlca, SouLh Amerlca and Lhe Mlddle LasL, and Lhese problems go well beyond slmple
LranslaLlon lssues and lack of culLural undersLandlng.

SomeLhlng we faced when speaklng wlLh our early lnvesLors, was Lhey someLlmes
became Loo obsessed wlLh Lhe wesLern world and looked pasL Lhe hlgh growLh markeLs
- ofLen referred as Lhe nexL bllllon markeLs". 1haL was a challenge for us, as our growLh
and daLa were polnLlng Lo Lhe developlng markeLs, and Lhe vCs were polnLlng Lo Lhe
developed markeLs. lL was a dlfflculL cholce for us Lo make, buL we followed where Lhe
daLa polnLed. 1oday lL has shown LhaL lL was Lhe rlghL paLh for us Lo Lake ln order Lo
grow fasL.

lf your buslness lf faclng slmllar quesLlons and app success relles on lnLernaLlonal
expanslon, here's a few Lhlngs Lo keep ln mlnd lf you wanL Lo compeLe and wln over Lhe
nexL bllllon consumers:

<'0. 8=)9#)"* >=&' ?0% 5@$%%(%) A,0"$&;
Moblle app developers usually have a Lop-of-Lhe-llne phone or LableL, llke an lhone 3S
or a Calaxy S3. 1hls ls Lhe devlce Lhey use Lhelr app on day-Lo-day, buL lL ls noL
represenLaLlve of how mosL of Lhelr users are experlenclng Lhelr producL or servlce.
Lower-end phones are much more commonplace ln fasL-growLh markeLs Lhan Lhey are
ln Lhe u.S. or Lurope. lor example, smarLphone peneLraLlon ln lndla ls only 13 percenL,
compared Lo 36 percenL ln Lhe u.S., accordlng Lo Coogle's Cur Moblle laneL sLudy.

1he Lakeaway here ls LhaL you should noL creaLe an app LhaL [usL works well for a small
percenLage of poLenLlal cusLomers. 1hls ls Lhe equlvalenL of auLomoLlve deslgners only
focuslng on Lhelr company's Lop-of-Lhe-llne cars, raLher Lhan whaL mosL of Lhelr
cusLomers are drlvlng.

lL's lmporLanL Lo pay close aLLenLlon Lo Lhe Lypes of devlces LhaL reslde ln Lhe hands of a
ma[orlLy of our users. 1ruecaller's app, for lnsLance, ofLen runs smooLher on low-end
Androld phones ln developlng counLrles Lhan Lhe operaLlng sysLem lLself. Slmply
malnLalnlng a quallLy experlence- raLher Lhan one LhaL chugs along and Lakes forever Lo
sLarL on mosL phones - can do wonders for audlence reLenLlon and repeaL usage.


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8lgger does noL always mean beLLer. lL ls Lrue LhaL phone screens are geLLlng larger ln
Lhe u.S. and Lurope, Lhough ln many counLrles, smaller screens sLlll have a powerful
hold. Accordlng Lo Coogle, 83 percenL of u.S. smarLphone owners have a phone wlLh a
large dlsplay (lhone slze or larger) - compare LhaL Lo 8razll, where [usL 61 percenL of
smarLphones have a large screen, or lndonesla, where only half of smarLphones do.

AlLhough lL may be LempLlng for deslgners Lo uLlllze all Lhe exLra screen real esLaLe, Lhls
should noL be done aL Lhe cosL of Lhe user experlence. ueslgners can be Loo eager Lo
cram Lhelr ul wlLh fancy bells and whlsLles, leadlng Lo an ugly, awkward layouL for Lhose
looklng aL lL Lhrough smaller screens.

Much llke programmlng for low-spec phones, accounLlng for a small screen slze ls key Lo
lmprovlng Lhe overall cusLomer experlence.

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Amerlcans and Luropeans love Lo complaln abouL Lhelr cellular daLa caps of a few
glgabyLes a monLh, buL Lhe slLuaLlon ls far worse for Lhose llvlng ln counLrles where
prepald plans domlnaLe. repald cusLomers have Lo be exLra consclous of Lhelr moblle
daLa when every exLra megabyLe means a hlgher phone blll. ln developlng counLrles, as
an example, users ofLen Lurn off cellular daLa on Lhelr phone Lo prevenL apps from uslng
lL ln Lhe background.

1hls ls very much ln conLrasL Lo Lhe average wesLern developers who Lyplcally bulld Lhelr
apps wlLh Lhe assumpLlon LhaL Lhelr users wlll have a consLanL lnLerneL connecLlon, even
lf Lhe core funcLlonallLy of Lhe app does noL requlre one. 1hls ls a reclpe for poor
adopLlon. ln facL, Coogle's daLa shows LhaL only 43 percenL of lndlan smarLphone
owners use a Wl-ll connecLlon for Lhelr smarLphone aL home, whlle nearly Lhree
quarLers of Amerlcans do.

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Cnly a few years ago, Crlglnal LqulpmenL ManufacLurers (CLM) pald llcense fee Lo app
developers Lo develop for Lhelr smarL phone devlces. 8uL Loday, parLnerlng wlLh carrlers
and CLMs ln forelgn markeLs can be a ma[or boon Lo all lnvolved. lor app developers
LhaL do noL have a greaL deal of brand recognlLlon ouLslde of Lhelr home counLry, [olnlng
up wlLh a well-known local brand can be an lnroad Lo reachlng mllllons of new
cusLomers. ln Lhls regard, Lhe app placemenL has become real esLaLe for developers Lo
flghL for. WlLh a robusL parLnershlp, carrlers and CLMs can dlfferenLlaLe Lhelr
lncreaslngly commodlLlzed phones and cellular servlces and your app geLs exposure Lo
users you oLherwlse mlghL mlss ouL on.

Cne lmporLanL lesson we learned when deallng wlLh CLMs and operaLors, ls LhaL you
really need Lo be presenL ln Lhe markeL Lo make Lhe deal - wheLher you have a local
buslness developer or you are Lhere yourself, you need Lo spend face Llme wlLh Lhe
people you do buslness wlLh.

SLrlklng a deal wlLh an CLM ls only Lhe flrsL sLep of a very long process, Lhe nexL sLep ls
sLarLlng Lo cusLomlze your app for varlous devlce manufacLurers. Some CLMs requlre a
loL of cusLomlzaLlon, and some requlres less, such as more logo placemenL or deeper
cusLomlzed user lnLerface, eLc. lL only becomes more complex as you sLrlke more deals.
SomeLlmes you mlghL need Lo communlcaLe wlLh a producL Leam LhaL ls based ln Chlna
whlle Lhe buslness Leam ls based ln lndla, so Lhe road Lo a parLnershlp may lnvolve some
degrees of confuslon and mlsundersLandlngs before lL becomes successful.

A polnL worLh noLlng ls LhaL lL can be very dlfflculL Lo esLlmaLe Lhe acLual usage of your
app ln Lhe pre-lnsLalled phones. A pre-lnsLalled app does noL necessarlly mean an acLlve
user for your servlce. 1hls ls a declslon process you need Lo Lake lnLernally, and you'll
need Lo deLermlne lf lL ls worLh spendlng resources ln developlng unlque bullds for
lndlvldual devlce manufacLurers, whaL supporL you wanL Lo glve Lhem, and lf you wlll
you consLanLly malnLaln Lhe updaLes.

1o fasL Lrack your app for success, do noL slmply pay aLLenLlon Lo maklng lL Lhe mosL
sophlsLlcaLed app ln Lhe caLegory. 8eLhlnk your app's deslgn for approachablllLy and
maxlmum reach. MosL lmporLanLly, make sure you have conducLed exLenslve user
LesLlng Lo ldenLlfy and work around ma[or consumer annoyances LhaL can lnhlblL your
app's growLh, vlrallLy, and reach.

--
1hanks,
Alan
alan.mamedl[Lruecaller.com

-H0=' B%=$3(99$%I
1ruecaller ls Lhe world's largesL verlfled moblle phone communlLy, dedlcaLed Lo helplng
users make Lhe rlghL call. 1ruecaller's dynamlc communlLy of more Lhan 70 mllllon users
ls always evolvlng and ls commlLLed Lo malnLalnlng Lhe lnLegrlLy of Lhe communlLy by
crowdsourclng lnformaLlon Lo help ldenLlfy spam callers and verlfy users.
PeadquarLered ln SLockholm, 1ruecaller was founded ln 2009 by naml Zarrlnghalam and
Alan Mamedl. 1ruecaller ls avallable on all lnLerneL-enabled devlces and on Lhe web. lor
more lnformaLlon vlslL www.Lruecaller.com