$100 Million fund for Android ecosystem
By siliconindia   |   Saturday, 23 April 2011, 00:12 IST
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Bangalore: An investment of $100 million fund is all set to be started linked to Google's Android Operating system. This fund will shape up the Android ecosystem. The fund is controlled by DCM, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm which has its presence in Tokyo and Beijing as well. Other investors involve top names in Asian mobile and social innovation and include GREEN, KDDI Corporation and Tencent. The launch of this A fund is a replica of capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. That investment vehicle, which now has $200 million under management, helped to highlight the business potential in creating applications and other technologies for users of Apple handsets. A partner at DCM said that the decision to back Android reflects a belief that the long-term potential of Google's open technology platform is greater than the more closely controlled one run by Apple. As the price of low-end handsets falls, it is predicted that the use of Android in China would rise rapidly with the cheapest devices falling to $100 or even lower by the end of the year. Smartphones running on Android now outsell Apple's iPhones, though the number of Apple devices in use is still larger thats solely because of the length of time they have been available. This funding will both tap the android business and the engineering potential in Japan and China emerged around mobile applications.