UCWeb Sets up Second Location in India

In an effort to expand its presence in India, UCWeb, a mobile Internet and software services company based in China, has debuted its second headquarters in India.

 UCWeb already has strong ties to India, with a reported 25 percent market share in the region, up 20 percent from 2012. The company has 200 partnerships in India and has also launched its browsers in Hindi and Urdu with the intent to seize the market in tier-II cities. Until now, only the Java version of UCWeb's browser was available in Hindi.

The company has said that going forward it will focus on video and download features – a move the company perceives as differentiating it from its competitors.

In addition to the news of a second location, UCWeb has also announced new versions of its UC browsers for Android (News - Alert) (v9.0), Java (v9.0) and iPad (v2.0).

The Android version sports an improved interface, and the ability to watch videos offline. It also enables private (or “incognito”) browsing, ad blocking and an array of customization features such as themes and wallpapers.

The Java version also shows an improved interface, and enables users to save account details and allows for integration to UCWeb’s free online storage service UDisk. With this offering, UCWeb is giving users 2GB permanent storage space for free and 4GB temporary storage space for seven days.

In September 2012, Kenny Ye of UCWeb India reported that its user base was close to 30 million – 20 percent of the market share. At the time, Ye said that since the company was CV funded, it wasn't going to focus on monetization. Much has changed in a year, though, and UCWeb has grown rapidly. With the unveiling of a second headquarters in India, the company may be reconsidering.

UCWeb fosters local partnerships with a variety of companies including Network 18, Cricbuzz, Olx.in, and others.