Piyush Shah

Aug 29, 2023

InMobi’s Glance takes its smart lock screen services to Japan SECTIONS By Rate Story Synopsis Singapore-headquartered Glance has already expanded in Indonesia and is now eyeing the US market. It recently launched in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. ETtech Piyush Shah, president and COO of Glance Glance , a smart lock screen platform from InMobi , is launching in Japan . It will partner with leading telecom carriers and Android smartphone brands in the country, Piyush Shah , president of Glance, told ET. Singapore-headquartered Glance has already expanded in Indonesia and is now eyeing the US market. It recently launched in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia. The platform’s more than 230 million users are primarily in India and Indonesia. In Japan, Glance is already available to subscribers of SoftBank Corp using Xiaomi (Redmi Note 9T Redmi Note 10T, and 12T Pro) and Motorola (Moto G53y 5G) smartphones. In the coming quarters, the company aims to expand its presence to other big carriers and Android smartphone brands in Japan, said Shah, who is also the COO of Glance and a cofounder of InMobi. On the Japanese market, Shah said, "It is one of the most advanced telecom markets. It saw 5G much earlier than other markets and it is now coming to 6G." Discover the stories of your interest Content and experiences on Glance are powered by Japan’s biggest publishers. Several other top publishers are expected to join the platform in the coming quarters. Glance has established a team in Tokyo, which is being led by Masato Ito, head of market development for Japan. The team is expected to grow significantly in the coming quarters. On competition in Japan, Masato said, "There are some OEM devices that have some type of lock screen platforms, but, compared to Glance, our experience is much more evolved. Our service is much deeper, of a higher quality, and high standards. As of now, I can say that we don’t have any direct competitors in Japan." Apple-dominated market A challenge for Glance, however, will be the fact that more people prefer Apple's iPhones over Android phones. According to Masato, in Japan about 60% use iPhones. Shah, however, told ET, "The telcos and OEMs loved the fact that they can use the power of Glance to enhance their own Android offering in the market. Apple is a pretty strong player in Japan, and these people really want to keep adding on top of what Android already offers, and they found that Glance is a great consumer service that way." For content partnerships, Masayo said they have started with some of the top publishers in the market, like Yahoo Japan, the country’s largest news media platform. Also companies like Kurashiru, which provides information on fashion, cosmetics, travel, food, etc., which are top performing categories in the country. "We are having discussions for content like Manga, which is Japanese animation, which is through Line Manga. As far as content is concerned, we are generally aiming at entertainment, news, sports, Manga and fashion," Masato said. “As Piyush mentioned, Japan is very strong with Apple. Android has a lot of the older generation of consumers, and they are interested in this kind of content as well, he added. We are getting a lot of great feedback and engagement with the categories we mentioned,” he said. Japan: an older demographic A unique challenge that Glance had to encounter is that India and Indonesia have always been about Gen Z demographic, whereas in Japan they had to focus on an older demographic. "The primary demographic that we were solving for in this part of the world was the youth," said Shah. “It's quite different in Japan. And it has been a pleasant surprise. It was a surprise to see how the relatively older population, 35+, 40+, how they have taken on to Glance. How they use Glance on an everyday basis. That was a unique experience for us.” The average age of people in Japan is about 48 years, while in India and Indonesia it is the 20s, Masato said. "The user demographic alone is a big difference. So the content curation, quality, type, these have to be tailored by our team, which is all Japanese locals who understand the local demographics and user needs, as well as the trends that they follow," Masato said. “Glance team as an organisation realised that local content tailoring was a very important thing. Which is why we invested in a local team in Japan, who understand the nuances.” The platform is also expanding its presence to other regions and aims to launch in the US soon. Glance is funded by investors including Jio Platforms, Google and Mithril Capital. Globally, Glance is present on more than 450 million Android smartphones through partnerships with the world’s top six Android smartphone brands, and is aiming to be on over 1 billion phones in the next two years. Consumers in Japan can now experience personalised internet on Android smartphone lock screens through Glance, without unlocking the phone, downloading any app, or searching for content. These lock screen experiences will include instant games, live game streaming, news, sports, lifestyle, fashion, entertainment, shopping, and live content. These experiences are delivered through Glance’s partnership with reputed publishers, content partners, and developers. Glance’s AI personalises these experiences, ensuring that consumers find content that is most relevant and important to them, each time they glance or look at their lock screen. “Consumers check their lock screen over 100 times a day, but only use it for notifications, battery and time. With Glance smart lock screen, they can stay on top of everything that interests them throughout the day..," Shah told ET. Don’t miss out on ET Prime stories! Get your daily dose of business updates on WhatsApp. click here! Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani said his three children — daughter Isha and sons Akash and Anant — will be inducted on the board as non-executive directors. He will continue as chairman and managing director for another five years, he announced at the RIL annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday.