While major technology players like Google and Microsoft may have all eyes on the smart-phone market, Yahoo is taking a different tack with a focus on the traditional smart feature phones.
At All Things Digital's inaugral AsiaD Conference in Hong Kong, Rose Tsou - SVP of Yahoo Asia Pacific - said the company expects the traditional feature phone to serve as an important role in bringing mobile internet services to many Asia markets.
“Mobile will be critical for the development of consumer tech in Asia,” said Tsou. “There is still a lot a $100 phone can do.”
Feature phones are expected to excel in developing markets such as South East Asia and India, Tsou said. To continue to develop Yahoo’s presence in Asia, she noted the company has established a partnership with mobile chipset manufacturer MediaTek in June.
The partnership allows Yahoo’s internet services to be embedded in MediaTek’s middleware, MAUI Runtime Environment (MRE), within its mobile chipsets.
Through providing content in these phones, Yahoo expects to bring content to its audience in South East Asian markets. MediaTek has been working closely with handset brands such as Cherry Mobile in the Philippines, Spice Group in India, Nexian in Indonesia to develop products based on the MRE technology.
“The mobile internet presents a wealth of opportunity for Yahoo,” said Tsou. “Our partnership with MediaTek will further connect us with our audiences in growing markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam and India where new to Internet users are coming online for the first time through their mobile devices.”