Evernote, which now has over 16 million users in Europe, is stepping up its bid to pick up more. Today the company is announcing a new deal with T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom to offer Evernote Premium free for six months to mobile users across DT’s entire network, covering 12 markets and reaching potential 57 million users. The partnership will include the app being preinstalled on Android devices sold by the carrier.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but this is an extension of a partnership between the two that started last year in DT’s home market of Germany.
That original service offered one year of free access and seems to have been successful enough to merit expansion. Evernote Premium’s prices in the region are currently €4.49 and €44.99 when not part of a special deal.
DT, like all other carriers, is fighting against the conception and potentially grim financial reality that it is a mere commoditized bitpipe, with software/apps and device companies hogging the communications limelight. One strategy they’ve been pursuing for a while now is to ink deals like this one to add more unique services and perks for those who sign up to and use their mobile and broadband networks above others.
Other notable examples of such moves also include the deal that DT has struck with Spotify, as well as Verizon’s investments in its TV service, with the latest of these being just today, when the company acquired Intel Media to enhance FiOS.
In the case of the DT/Evernote deal, the carrier says that users who sign up for the service also get 1GB of monthly upload allowance, off-line notebook usage and accelerated picture recognition. Premium features also include Document Search, which allows users to search documents, presentations and spreadsheets within their Evernote Notebooks, and Reminders, which ensure users stay on track with all of their personal and professional projects.
“We are proud to have been able to put together and launch such a comprehensive international partnership across 12 markets in just four months. Partnerships like these enable us to provide our customers across Europe with access to an increasing number of innovative online services,” said Claudia Nemat, Board member for Europe and Technology at Deutsche Telekom, in a statement. “This is in line with our innovation goal of entering into partnerships to offer unique services that will increase both value for the customer as well as customer loyalty.”
For Evernote, the deal is an important way of adding not only more users, but specifically paying users, to its platform. The company has long been reported to be eyeing up an IPO and whether it will be that or some other direction that the company takes by way of an acquisition or merger, having as large a user base as it can will help the company play top dog and attract more partners to its platform.
This will also help Evernote grow its customer base specifically on the international front. Its latest figures put the total subscriber base at 80 million worldwide, and a spokesperson tells me that 20% are in Europe.
“We are excited to be able to build on our existing partnership with Deutsche Telekom in Germany and extend our Evernote Premium offer to millions of customers across the DT footprint,” said Alex Pachikov, VP of Partnerships at Evernote, in a statement. “This is an important milestone for the partnership. It now allows us to enrich the mobile experience for millions of subscribers across Europe. This enables them to capture and recall everything that is important to them across all of their devices.”
The full list of countries that will now see the Evernote offering is Albania, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Montenegro, Macedonia, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, as well as Germany, which rolled it out last year.
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