Yandex Acquires SPB Software as Opportunity for Internet Growth Expands in Russia

Yandex has acquired mobile software company SPB Software (News - Alert) – in a move that Yandex expects will let it partner further with mobile businesses. Financial details on the purchase were kept secret.

The deal will let Yandex provide an interface designed to integrate services from the company.

"The acquisition of SPB Software creates new market potential for us and a plethora of possibilities for innovative solutions for our partners," explains Yandex CEO Arkady Volozh in a company press release. "SPB Shell 3D is an ideal foundation on which to build up our mobile opportunity."

“Mobile is a vital part of our growth strategy,” he adds.

"SPB Software is excited to join Yandex," Sebastian-Justus Schmidt, CEO of SPB Software, continued in the press release. "This allows us to unite efforts in developing and marketing new cutting-edge mobile solutions. SPB Software will continue its mission to produce innovative mobile products of the highest quality."

Under the agreement, SPB Shell 3D will employ cloud services and technology from Yandex, the companies said. Users will get improved access to search capabilities and other services, the companies add.

SPB Software develops mobile software. Among its products are a mobile user interface engine that can be used for tablets and smartphones, according to the company press release. SPB Shell 3D was recently selected by Huawei for the planned Vision phone, which runs on an Android (News - Alert) OS, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Yandex is a large Internet company in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Turkey. It is a major player – particularly in Russia. It handled some 64 percent of all searches in Russia during 2010, says The Journal, noting that the percentage is “substantially ahead of Google (News - Alert).”

There is also lot of room for growth in Internet service in Russia. Russia had 50.8 million unique visitors as of September, The Journal reports citing data from comScore (News - Alert). That means it has “the largest online audience in Europe” and is “the fastest growing” market.

In other recent company news, TMCnet reports that Yandex was named the default search engine on Windows Phone handsets in Russia. Among Yandex’s partners in the offering are Nokia, Samsung (News - Alert), HTC and Microsoft.