Take Yahoo’s 2012 acquisition of Stamped, an app that allowed users to track and share restaurants, books, and other things they liked with friends. After all, exiting a mobile startup for any meaningful amount is a big win, given the thousands of apps entering the fray every year. MORE: Rahm Emanuel: Given a choice, Americans want cities over suburbsīefore we discuss other blockbuster deals, such as Facebook’s $1 billion Instagram acquisition or its $3 billion offer for Snapchat, let’s start smaller. This partially explains why the majority of mobile startups fail, but it does not explain why the fortunate few succeed. The level of competition for a new entrant is downright frightening. Late last year, the figure surpassed 1 million … and growing. It’s hard to imagine that when the App store launched in July 2008 there were less than 1,000 apps available for download. Mayer's plan for reviving the fortunes of the faded Internet pioneer includes making priorities of mobile devices, video, personalized digital content, and elevating the company's popularity outside the United States.To shed some light, let’s first take a stroll through the Apple (AAPL) App store as a proxy for competition in the mobile sector. Yahoo is reported to be eyeing online video website Hulu after its bid to buy a majority stake in France-based Dailymotion was derailed in May. Yahoo recently bought PlayerScale, a startup that powers games played on smartphones, tablets, consoles or personal computers. Since former Google executive Mayer became chief at Yahoo, the company has racked up a series of acquisitions including startups Alike, Stamped, and a Summly application built by a British teen. Yahoo last month bought startup GhostBird Software, which makes picture-taking applications for iPhones, to enhance its Flickr photo service. Yahoo has been snapping up companies since Mayer took the helm in July of last year and vowed to revive the company, which has faded in the face of competition from Google. Yahoo in June completed a billion-dollar deal taking over the popular blogging platform Tumblr, a move aimed at bringing more youthful users into the company's orbit. The Qwiki buy announcement came a day after Yahoo put out word that it bought Bignoggins Productions, a one-person operation specializing in fantasy sports applications for iPhones. Yahoo promised to continue to support the Qwiki app after the startup's team becomes part of its office in New York City. "The Qwiki app automatically turns pictures and videos that you already have on your iPhone into quick, beautiful movies to share, including transitions and a soundtrack." "Have you ever listened to an old song and all of a sudden a favorite vacation, concert, or summer memory pops into your mind?" Yahoo asked rhetorically in a blog post announcing the acquisition. Yahoo did not reveal how much it paid for Qwiki, the New York operation behind an application that converts video and pictures on iPhones into sharable movie clips complete with music soundtracks. Yahoo on Tuesday announced it has bought a startup behind a smartphone movie application, extending a shopping spree launched after Marissa Mayer became chief of the Internet pioneer a year ago.
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