Press release
SINA to Enable Application Store for Mobile Consumers in China
SAN DIEGO - June 30, 2010 - Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) today announced the availability of an application store to bring Brew® apps and services to consumers in open markets. The first application store will be managed by SINA, the largest infotainment Web portal in China, whose strong brand awareness in China will provide both local and global developers the opportunity to reach one of the most significant consumer markets for apps and services in the world.
The open market application store, accompanied with a strong developer ecosystem program, will provide Chinese consumers with access to a full range of paid and free content, apps and services for download. SINA will host content delivery and merchandising, catalog management and the storefront, leveraging their strong online presence and social relevance. Qualcomm and SINA will jointly reach out to the local development community with programs to attract relevant applications for the China market.
Qualcomm also plans to offer a fully managed service to regional mobile application retailers, providing brands and device manufacturers a simple-to-use application store solution for delivering Brew services to their customers quickly, easily and cost effectively.
"Building a robust mobile ecosystem that provides a lucrative business upside for our developers is a key strategic driver for Qualcomm, and we are always looking for new ways to help developers successfully achieve their business goals," said Andrew Gilbert, executive vice president and president of Qualcomm Internet Services and Qualcomm Europe. "We look forward to working with SINA as they foster a strong local developer community that will create socially relevant content for the China market. At the same time, Qualcomm will encourage Brew developers around the globe to take advantage of the market potential in this region."
"SINA is committed to offering consumers a wide array of quality content and services, and mobile is an integral piece of our overall strategy," said Gaofei Wang, general manager of SINA Mobile. "We are confident that working with Qualcomm will enable us to provide an exceptional mobile experience that best meets the needs of our end users."
Brew MP is a mass-market mobile operating system that delivers smart phone functionality across multiple tiers of devices. Developers are able to create extraordinary experiences typically associated with high-end smart phones on a broader range of devices priced to compete with feature phones - which, based on analyst reports, are expected to comprise more than 80 percent of all mobile phones in operation through 2014. The operating system enables advanced capabilities such as touchscreen, rich multimedia, window management, open platform extensibility and expanded support for native application development. To learn more about Brew MP, visit www.brewmp.com.
