Mobile app marketing is undergoing a strategic shift as brands discover the power of OEM advertising – the practice of promoting apps through on-device ads via smartphone manufacturers. Once a niche tactic, OEM-based user acquisition (through mobile preloads and alternative app stores) has surged into the mainstream. In fact, alternative app stores now drive nearly half of all Android app store spending globally, and OEM placements boast conversion rates as high as 85% in some cases. With performance metrics rivaling organic installs and costs per install well below traditional channels, OEM advertising is emerging as a high-performance user acquisition strategy that brands can no longer afford to ignore.
Why Marketers Are Turning Toward OEM Advertising
User acquisition costs on conventional platforms are rising, while privacy restrictions have made targeting and tracking more complex. Marketers increasingly ask: where else can we efficiently find high-quality users? OEM advertising has become the answer.
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) advertising allows brands to reach users inside the device experience itself — through preloads, setup recommendations, app store featuring, or home-screen folders. Smartphone makers like Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, and Huawei now operate global ad networks reaching billions of devices.
This shift is reinforced by three major forces:
- Massive Android Reach: Android’s 71% global market share gives OEM networks unparalleled scale. OEM app stores already account for 25–50% of all Android app spending worldwide.
- Regulatory Tailwinds: The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) now mandates openness to alternative app stores, legitimizing OEM-run ecosystems such as Huawei AppGallery and Xiaomi GetApps.
- Marketer Adoption: According to AppsFlyer, four OEM platforms rank among the top 12 media sources for Android installs, while adoption of OEM channels by advertisers grew 48% year-over-year in 2024.
These trends have elevated OEM advertising from a regional experiment to a global, mainstream acquisition channel.
How OEM Advertising Works
OEM advertising, or on-device advertising, connects brands directly to users via the phone’s native ecosystem. Common placements include:
- Preloads & Setup Prompts: Apps shown during device onboarding or offered for installation on first use.
- OEM App Stores: Premium visibility in stores like Samsung Galaxy Store, AppGallery, and GetApps, which collectively serve hundreds of millions of monthly users.
- On-Device Recommendations: App suggestions inside folders or widgets like “Top Apps,” creating a native, non-intrusive discovery experience.
Campaigns are tracked through standard mobile measurement partners such as AppsFlyer or Adjust, ensuring transparency comparable to Facebook or Google campaigns.
Because these ads appear in trusted system contexts, conversion rates often surpass 30–40%, far exceeding the <1% average of in-app ad clicks.
Performance Metrics That Matter
Data from sources like Business of Apps, REPLUG, and AppsFlyer confirm that OEM advertising offers a combination of scale, efficiency, and quality unmatched by most other channels:
- 25% of all app downloads in 2025 are expected to come from OEM ecosystems.
- Conversion rates up to 85% have been documented in top-performing campaigns.
- CPI 30% lower than Facebook or Google equivalents.
- ROAS up to 40% higher than conventional mobile campaigns.
- Retention up to 26% higher vs. users acquired from social channels.
- Fraud rates near zero due to direct device-level tracking.
The data tells a consistent story: OEM advertising not only lowers acquisition costs but also brings in more engaged, higher-LTV users.
Why OEM Ads Deliver
The success of OEM advertising stems from its native integration, trust factor, and timing. These placements reach users at the most receptive stage, when they’re setting up a new phone or exploring default apps. The recommendation appears as a system suggestion, not an ad, which builds immediate trust.
OEM ads also eliminate much of the fraud and ad waste common in open networks. Because OEM campaigns use first-party device data (and not cookies or third-party IDs), they are inherently privacy-compliant and future-proof in a post-ATT, Privacy Sandbox world.
In short, OEM advertising gives marketers access to trusted, high-intent, fraud-free, privacy-safe traffic at global scale, a rare combination in today’s fragmented digital landscape.
