Actualités

Myriad Group Acquires Xumii, Inc.

Publiée le 15/09/2009

Asset Deal Enables Myriad to Expand into Fast-Growing Market for Mobile Social Networking Services

DUEBENDORF-ZURICH, Switzerland – 15th September 2009 – Myriad Group AG (SIX: MYRN), a global leader in mobile technology with software in over 2 billion phones, today announced that it has acquired the brand, technology and 17 employees of privately-held Xumii, Inc., a provider of mobile social networking services based in San Mateo, California and Sydney, Australia. The transaction is not expected to have a material impact to Myriad revenue or EBITDA for the full fiscal 2009.

“Xumii was the first software developer to combine social networks and instant messaging into a seamless mobile experience,” said Simon Wilkinson, CEO of Myriad. “We are delighted that this talented team has joined Myriad.”

Over the past year, social networking has emerged as the key application driving consumer adoption of mobile data services. Facebook is leading the way, already reporting 65 million mobile users per month, up from 20 million just 8 months ago. Research firm eMarketer forecasts that there will be more than 800 million mobile users of social networks by 2012.
Using a “cloud computing” architecture, Xumii integrates a mobile user’s phone contacts, social networks and instant messaging services into a single “social phonebook”. Mobile users can then simultaneously access Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, Windows Live and other popular Internet services, sending messages, updating status and sharing photos and videos.

The Xumii technology is ideal for mass-market mobile phones, which do not have sufficient processing power, battery life and memory for advanced, always-on data services. Xumii overcomes these shortfalls by moving the bulk of the processing and data storage to its servers - the “cloud”.

“The acquisition of Xumii further strengthens our position as the partner of choice for mobile operators and handset manufacturers seeking to add social networking features to mass market phones,” added Wilkinson.

“We are excited to be joining Myriad and to have this opportunity to accelerate the commercialisation of our technology,” commented Jennifer Zanich, CEO of Xumii.
Myriad already provides software to all of the major phone manufacturers, as well as more than 30 mobile operators across the globe. More information is available on the company’s website: www.myriadgroup.com.
 
About Myriad
Myriad Group AG is a global leader in mobile technology and has shipped software in more than 2 billion devices. Its comprehensive portfolio includes browsers, messaging, Java, user interfaces and middleware for all types of mobile phones, from ultra-low cost handsets to advanced smartphones.
The company provides both individual components and complete solutions, which enable handset manufacturers and operators to deliver amazing experiences on mobile phones. Myriad also develops USSD-based customer self-care platforms that deliver over 5 billion messages a year to 157 million mobile users across more than 30 mobile operators worldwide.
Myriad was created from the combination of industry-leading companies, Esmertec and Purple Labs. It operates worldwide, with offices in Switzerland, France, UK, USA, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan. Headquartered in Dübendorf-Zürich Switzerland, Myriad is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX Symbol: MYRN). 

Myriad Group AG 1H 2009 Results:
Media & Analyst conference - 23 September 2009 09.00 am CET at SIX Swiss Exchange ConventionPoint, Zurich, Switzerland. For more information please contact investor_relations@myriadgroup.com.