PHILIPPINES, APRIL 2011 – Social applications and games developer ThumbMOB Philippines Inc. brings mig33, the world’s largest mobile-first community, to the Philippines.
With over 47 million users worldwide, more than 1 billion chat messages exchanged daily, and over 4 million virtual ts purchased and given every month, mig33 offers a social entertainment platform targeted primarily at the so-called “feature phones” that dominate the mobile subscriber base of emerging economies.
“We are very excited to launch in the Philippines,” says mig33 CEO and co-founder Steven Goh, "This strategic move is well-aligned with our mission in becoming the Tencent for the world, bringing mobile social networking and entertainment services to billions of consumers residing in rapidly growing mobile markets mainly in Asia such as the Philippines, the Middle East and South Africa,” Goh added.
The Philippine mobile entertainment multimedia market is a burgeoning business, with over 85 million mobile subscribers and a mobile phone penetration rate of over 93%. The Philippines’ mobile multi-media market alone is forecast to reach some US$140-M by 2015 (IE Market Research, Feb 2011).
mig33 brings the entertainment functionality of avatars, virtual ts and games to this large feature phone market – something ignored by the leading social networks.
“But this service delivers more than just entertainment,” adds ThumbMOB CEO, Patricia Mulles. “With its group messaging feature and its ability to communicate with all the popular chat and social media platforms available, it offers a very convenient one-stop platform to keep in touch and enhance social relationships. The fact that this is popular in countries with a lot of Filipino expats and overseas workers is also a big plus.”
ThumbMOB has localized the mig33 mobile client to make it more familiar and user-friendly to Filipinos. This is a JAVA (J2ME) version available for use by the majority of the phones in the country. Android and Blackberry versions will soon be available. The app can be downloaded from www.thumbmob-inc.com.
ThumbMOB Philippines Inc. is backed by telecommunications, media and technology conglomerate Information Capital Technology Ventures, Inc (ICTV). Launched in 2005, mig33 is backed by Silicon Valley venture firms Accel Partners, Redpoint Ventures, DCM and an Indonesian technopreneur.
