ROM Startups Looking For Users

Lewa Custom ROM, which targets at low priced android smart phones, has accumulated 2million users in the past two years. And yes, it’s still far from satisfactory.

Not long ago, local tech giants’ moves seemingly revealed that ROM should be a valuable mobile Internet entrance. In July 2012, Tencent put in RMB 50 million on Lewa and kidnapped Shuame (a flash and root tool) form Qihoo360. Several months later, Baidu invested in another root tool Dashi and also started working on developing its own ROM.

There are two channels from which users of ROM come, 1) smart phone junkies who root their phones on their own and, 2) smart phone related companies and merchants. Lewa took both of the two channels: at first the earlier 2million users mostly fall into the first channel, and in the future the focus will shift to the second. Accordingly Lewa now has several joint projects under progress, and the results remain to be seen in the third quarter.

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