Handmark to take over 500 news publishers mobile in 2010

KANSAS CITY, USA & LONDON, UK: Handmark, the world’s leading creator and distributor of mobile applications and services, announced aggressive plans to cement its position as the leading mobile publishing partner for media companies and content publishers. The company plans to launch thousands of mobile news applications supporting more than 500 newspapers, magazines and other content publishers worldwide in 2010.

The mobile market in the US is experiencing explosive growth, with more than 120 million smartphones projected to be in use by 2014 and one in five Americans using their mobile device to access the Internet every day.

According to a recent survey by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), more than half of the surveyed publishers plan to launch a mobile news application in the next 24 months. A third of the respondents also believe that mobile will have a significant impact on their publication's revenue in just three years.

In an ABC press release issued on September 21, Michael Lavery, ABC’s president and managing director, said, "The results of ABC's survey demonstrate that publishers recognize the growing importance of mobile devices in consumers' daily lives and are actively embracing mobile as a new way to extend their brands."

Handmark is uniquely positioned to lead the burgeoning mobile publishing market with its Mobile Publishing Platform (MPP). The platform enables publishers to create the next great customer experience and a new lucrative channel with their own customized, branded, always-on mobile applications quickly and easily across the widest range of mobile devices.

“The rapid proliferation of smartphones paired with the growing expectation consumers have for information at their fingertips underlines why it is absolutely essential publishers have a plan for mobile beyond basic Web browsing,” said Paul Reddick, Handmark CEO. “We are excited about the opportunities ahead this year and will continue to aggressively pursue partnerships with publishers to help open new doors for their business.”

Unlike other mobile developers, Handmark is the only partner to offer a full service mobile application solution including not only development, but distribution across more than 50 channels, monetization capabilities and ongoing innovation of publishers’ mobile applications as well.

“We want to keep publishers focused in on the core of their business – creating compelling content and building audience,” added Evan Conway, EVP of Marketing at Handmark. “It is our goal to deliver new capabilities and channels that help extend and reinforce brands to a new mobile audience, as well as to create new more targeted opportunities for their advertisers.”