MobileOEMA mobile OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) refers to companies that make their own phones and have their own OEM mobile apps. Xiaomi, for example, which sold more than 190 million smartphones in 2021, has its own OEM app store (Xiaomi GetApps) and its own enterprise apps.

With more than 1000 new apps released on the Apple Store and over 3000 new apps on the Google Play Store every day, OEM mobile app stores offer alternatives to established Google and Apple marketplaces that marketers can leverage to meet their goals and drive ROAS (return on advertising spend). Companies like Xiaomi, Huawei, Vivo and Oppo offer their customers apps directly through their own app stores and through their directly controlled advertising spaces.

Reasons for mobile marketers to work with mobile OEM partners for their in-app advertising campaigns:

 

  • Achieve growth goals: With OEMs, marketers can reach new target groups and open up new markets to grow globally.
  • Meet acquisition goals: Mobile OEMs offer high user acquisition at a lower CPI (clicks per install). This helps to meet acquisition targets and improve ROAS.
  • Fraud-proof ecosystem: There are no third parties between budget holders and the OEMs. This gives marketers complete access to a secure user acquisition environment.
  • Build trust with the target audience: Users who are loyal to certain OEMs find the ads more trustworthy
  • Reduce dependency: App developers can reduce their dependency from Google Play and the Apple Store through their presence in various app stores and achieve maximum reach.


Programmatic media buying helps advertisers use automation to their advantage but there are still significant flaws in this process. Working with global, mobile OEMs offer, as said, an alternative that is fraud-free and more transparent while providing access to large, untapped audiences at a low CPI. When it comes to ad unit design, smartphone OEMs know that ad spend can only be maximized when post-impression, click and install metrics are also taken into account.

By Daniela La Marca