Nimbuzz gets a client distro deal on India handsets

Rotterdam-based Nimbuzz has worked out a distribution deal for its free client with Spice Mobiles, a distributor with 25,000 retail outlets in India, and said it go throughout APAC?

Nimbuzz's mobile IM/"(geo) presence"/VoIP/kitchen sink client will be pre-installed on phones for users to chat, message and send files on the go. According to the release, "most" of the new Java and Windows Mobile handsets going out in December to Spice Mobile's Indian market will have the full Nimbuzz communications "portfolio" installed.

But this just isn't a straight "here's the software" deal. Nimbuzz and Spice Mobiles are going to heavily promote the client with a marketing campaign including info on Spice Mobiles website, links to Nimbuzz through Spice Mobiles WAP portal and point of sale promotions - POS means there's some real money being spent.

In addition, the distribution deal is a global contract. Spice Mobile devices with the Nimbuzz code-load will also be sold in other APAC territories, further expanding the reach of Nimbuzz across the region.

The numbers and potential upside are huge. Gartner expects India's mobile user base of 300 million to expand to 737 million by 2012.  

Nimbuzz follows Fring for on-the-handset deals. Fring cut one earlier this year to put their client on Mobilkom's A1 service over IP, with Nokia's S60 handset as the targeted platform.

For more:
- Nimbuzz Nimblogs its Spice Mobiles news.

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