Indian social networking site Ibibo claims that its “iBrowser” mobile web browser has been downloaded over six-million times since launching last year.
The social network, which is owned by emerging markets internet giants Naspers and Tencent, claims that at least half of those downloads resulted in active users.
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According to Indian tech site Medianama, Ibibo iBrowser is essentially a repurposed version of Tencent’s QQ Mobile browser.
Running across the Symbian, Android and Java platforms, the browser can be used on smart and feature phones. In fact, the company claims that its browser can be used on 90% of the handsets in India.
The browser also seems to have been built with high data costs in mind as it claims that its “Advanced compression technology can reduce data costs by up to 85%”.
iBrowser comes preloaded with “thousands of Indian websites”, a download manager and a night mode which it claims, “protects your eyes in the dark”.
Ibibo itself is an umbrella social network that offers a variety of applications. It is particularly popular among the less affluent. According to Alexa’s internet rankings it is predominantly visited by males, with at least some level of tertiary education.
Despite the gains made by its mobile browser, the company’s primary business appears to still be games, with a number of titles including Mumbai Underworld, Pet Party and Howzat Cricket available on the platform.
