LinkedIn is a relatively large network right now with over 500 million users and it was acquired by Microsoft recently for $26 billion in cash. It has made changes over the years to make it better to use for its users and this next move seems to be targeted squarely at getting more users in the mobile space.
Today, LinkedIn launched a Lite version of their Android app, which is basically a stripped down version of their main app for use by users in markets where the connection speeds are low and the users have smartphones with slower hardware.
Just like Lite apps we have seen Twitter or Facebook launch before, LinkedIn says that the app only takes 1MB of storage just like Twitter lite, will load pages in less than five seconds even on 2G networks and will reduce data usage by 80%.
The app is currently limited to India (annoyingly) and attempts to download it for preview have proven to be futile. However, LinkedIn said that there are plans to expand the availability of the app to 60 more markets in the coming weeks.
You can understand the fact that they want to launch the Lite app first on India. Apparently the country contributes to nearly 10% of the entire LinkedIn user base (42 million users) and India is being used as the “developing market guinea pig” for testing stripped down apps like this before releasing them to other developing countries.
LinkedIn has to work fast to secure their lead in this niche as the likes of Facebook and Google are encroaching into their industry by offering solutions for both job-seekers and employers alike.
