InMobi is the largest independent mobile advertising network in China, valued at over $1 billion. The Indian tech ad firm is also one of the very few foreign internet firms that have succeeded in China. These factors were critical to its success.
InMobi’s global strategy encountered resistance in China
Like other multinational corporations’ headquarters, InMobi’s headquarters also developed global strategies and asked each region to follow through. But at InMobi China, many of these initiatives encountered resistance. Jessie Yang, InMobi China head insisted on doing it the Chinese way.
InMobi headquarters decided to give its China unit rare autonomy.
As Yang built credibility within the organization and InMobi China achieved significant growth, Bangalore decided to unshackle China, giving it rare autonomy. “Autonomy is not awarded but gained,” Said Yang.
China was racing ahead in mobile internet. That was part of the reason that InMobi China could operate independently.
One of the reasons that InMobi China was able to operate independently was because China was racing ahead in the mobile internet. The country skipped desktop era, leapfrogging to mobile internet - many in China never used a computer once.