December 9, 2014

Huffington Post targets 250m Indian internet users with 13th international launch

Growing numbers of smartphone users in India have prompted Huffington Post to launch its latest global edition in the country.

Only 19 per cent of the population in India have access to the internet, according to Internet Live Stats, compared to 90 per cent in the UK (same source). But the high population means India has become the third largest internet market worldwide, according to a KMPG report. According to KMPG, 60 per cent India's internet users access the web via mobile.

Koda Wang, General Manager of HuffPost International said: “The opportunity in India is tremendous. It's a market of about 250 million internet users. Many of them are mobile, with 7 million smartphones being added every month…

“From audience perspective, we're hoping to cover a broad spectrum of backgrounds and stories. From a business perspective, an English site will also attract an educated, affluent, and influential audience.”

“We've had remarkable interest in our blogging platform: they range from Bollywood actors to environmental activists, to members of Parliament, to passionate students.”

India will be the 13th site in The Huffington Post’s on-going international expansion. There are eight journalists on the team so far, likely to expand to 15 as the platform gains momentum. An Arabic version will be launched early next year, and a Chinese version is also said to be on the agenda.