LinkedIn Aims To Extend The ‘Lite’ Version To 60 More Countries
LinkedIn, the professional networking company has announced the launch of native LinkedIn Lite app for the Android users in India. The new version is basically for the internet population in areas of low-to-zero connectivity.
LinkedIn Lite works on 2G connections and is a stripped-down version of the original site, allowing for data efficiency. It claims to load 4x faster, across mobile platforms and devices. It also claims to ensure a smooth, seamless process for users in rural and urban areas.
As stated by LinkedIn India head, Akshay Kothari to ET, “We have now been able to take all the LinkedIn experience and package it into an app that is less than 1MB. We are seeing a lot of growth coming from Tier II and Tier III towns due to this initiative. In the past six months, unique visitors to our mobile site have doubled while the engagement on our site has gone up threefold.”
With this launch, LinkedIn also aims to extend its ‘Made In India’ version to 60 other countries. “We recently tested the product in some of its other markets and witnessed significant growth in its user engagement,” added Kothari.
The LinkedIn Lite initiative was announced during LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner’s visit to Bengaluru in September 2016. The entire platform is developed by LinkedIn’s Bengaluru R&D unit. The company also proposed two other unique initiatives at the same time focussed on the Indian market. These included:
- LinkedIn Starter Pack designed to help startups and small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), and
- LinkedIn Placements to provide support to the students in university and college placements.
The app loads extremely fast – in under five seconds, even on 2G network – and the app size is only 1 MB while reducing data usage by 80 percent.
According to Akshay Kothari, LinkedIn’s Country Manager for India, apart from providing a fast, data-light solution for professionals in slow network areas, he hopes the LinkedIn Lite app will democratize access to economic opportunity.