In 2026, French app publishers face the same problem as their European peers. CPIs on Google, Meta, and Apple are climbing, attribution remains constrained for the second year post-AppTrackingTransparency, and the markets where French publishers want to grow next, both inside and outside Europe, are increasingly reached through OEM advertising rather than the traditional ad stack. This article covers the state of mobile apps in France in 2026, explains what mobile OEM advertising actually is, and shows where it fits in a French publisher’s channel mix.
What is the state of mobile apps in France in 2026?
France runs one of Europe’s largest app economies. According to Business of Apps’ January 2026 update, the French app market generated $3 billion in revenue in 2024, up 20.9% year on year, with more than 2 billion downloads across 50 million+ smartphone users. The headline numbers are healthy. The interesting story is what they hide.
The French market is mature, which is exactly why the growth ceiling is closer than the revenue figures suggest. Three-quarters of the population already has a smartphone. The average user has 42 apps installed. The top-grossing app, TikTok, generates $39 million in a market of 68 million people, and the most-downloaded, Temu, has already reached 13 million users. For any French publisher with product-market fit at home, the next phase of growth is not domestic. It is international.
That international play is where the channel mix changes. Inside France, search and social still get you most of where you need to go. Outside France, the geography of mobile shifts: Android dominates volume across every market on a French publisher’s typical expansion roadmap, from the rest of Europe to the Maghreb, francophone Africa, the Gulf, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. And in those markets, Android distribution increasingly runs through manufacturers – Samsung, Xiaomi, Transsion, Oppo, Vivo – rather than through Google alone. That is the gap OEM advertising fills, and it is why the channel matters more for a French publisher with global ambitions than for one optimizing purely at home.
What is mobile OEM advertising?
At its core, OEM advertising is the practice of buying inventory directly from smartphone manufacturers (Original Equipment Manufacturers): Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, Honor, and Transsion (Tecno, Itel, Infinix), typically through a specialist partner like AVOW. F
Common misconceptions still frame OEM advertising as a narrow, regional, or low-flexibility channel. That may have been true a decade ago. Today, it reaches 1.85 billion daily active users across 86% of the global Android market through three distinct paths.
1. Alternative app stores. Manufacturers run their own app stores: Samsung Galaxy Store, Xiaomi GetApps, Huawei AppGallery, Oppo Store, Vivo V-Appstore, Transsion Palm Store. You list your app, you can pay for featured placements, and in many regions, you negotiate better revenue terms than Google or Apple offer.
2. On-device placements and branding. Native display ads run across the device: banners, splash ads, interstitials, push notifications, app vault, default browser, lock screen, and in-store placements. Targeting uses appographic, behavioral, geographic, and socio-demographic signals read directly from the device, which sharpens optimization compared to standard DSPs.
3. Dynamic Preloads (Play Auto Install & OOBE). Also known as the out-of-box experience (OOBE), these are apps delivered over the air during device setup, with user opt-in. Installs come from the Google Play Store (PAI) or OEM alternative app stores, such as Xiaomi GetApps (OOBE), and are attributed through your MMP (Mobile Measurement Partner) which are fully compliant with all app store policies. This is the modern, opt-in version of preloads. For a deeper breakdown, see our Dynamic Preloads guide.
Across all three paths, inventory integrates with leading MMPs such as AppsFlyer, Adjust, Singular, and Branch, and ad units are verified fraud-free by major MMPs. The point: OEM advertising is not a single ad unit. It is a full device ecosystem with multiple discovery moments, from setup to app store browsing to everyday on-device engagement.
Where does OEM advertising for French app publishers actually reach?
Reach is the question that decides whether OEM advertising belongs in a French publisher’s media plan or not. The headline figure is 1.85 billion daily active users across AVOW’s mobile OEM partners worldwide, but a global average is the wrong unit for planning a campaign. What matters is regional coverage in the markets you actually run UA in, because OEM share varies sharply by geography. Samsung dominates one region, Xiaomi another, Transsion a third, and the publishers who get the most out of the channel match their expansion roadmap against that mix.
AVOW’s regional reach map breaks the global figure down by region:
| Region | AVOW Audience Reach | Top OEMs |
| Africa | 91% | Transsion (Tecno, Itel, Infinix), Samsung, Xiaomi |
| South East Asia | 87% | Xiaomi, OPPO, Samsung, Transsion |
| India | 84% | Vivo, Xiaomi, Realme (OPPO) |
| CIS | 75% | Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme (OPPO) |
| MENA | 70% | Samsung, Xiaomi, Transsion |
| Europe | 57% | Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO |
| LATAM | 55% | Samsung, Xiaomi |
Two things stand out for a French publisher:
- Europe at 57% is meaningful in its own right. Samsung and Xiaomi cover the majority of European Android users, and the Digital Markets Act is opening up app store competition rather than shrinking it. If you run UA in France, Germany, Spain, or the UK, there is inventory here you are likely not buying.
- The numbers climb sharply outside Europe. For French publishers expanding into the Maghreb, francophone Africa, or the Gulf, MENA at 70% and Africa at 91% mean OEM channels are not a supplementary tactic in those markets. They are the dominant Android distribution path.
Map your roadmap against this table before finalizing your channel mix. If your next 12 months are about doubling down in Europe, the Samsung and Xiaomi footprint alone justifies the test. If your next 12 months are about international expansion from a French base, the rest of the table tells you where OEM moves from useful to essential.
Does OEM advertising work? Three brands, three results
The reach numbers tell you the channel exists at scale. The question is whether that scale converts into outcomes that justify the line item. Three brands, three different verticals, three different regional focuses:
Tripledot Studios was running into a familiar gaming problem: efficient scale. The London-based publisher behind Solitaire and Woodoku had built a strong UA engine on the major platforms but needed new inventory to keep growth efficient as costs climbed. Working with AVOW across Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo, Tripledot combined display advertising with Dynamic Preloads via Google PAI, focused spend on key European markets, and tested expansion into Latin America and Southeast Asia. Campaigns outperformed EMEA targets by 20% and delivered 15% higher results than other preload channels.
“AVOW truly understands the gaming app landscape. Their ability to tap into new, scalable user acquisition channels and optimize targeting strategies has been invaluable.” — Ben Barta, Senior Growth Manager, Tripledot Studios
Exness faced a particular challenge familiar to regulated financial products. Many of the geos the international forex broker wanted to grow in restricted trading-app advertising on Meta and Google, which made traditional channels a non-starter in some of the highest-value markets on the roadmap. AVOW helped Exness expand across more than 40 countries through alternative app stores, including Xiaomi GetApps, Huawei AppGallery, and the Vivo V-AppStore, with a model built around cost-per-registration and ROI-focused quality benchmarks rather than raw install volume. The result: more than 250,000 monthly installs, 1000% ROAS in key markets across Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, and over 13,600 first-time deposits in 2024 at an average cost per FTD of €83.
“AVOW’s expertise in mobile OEM advertising allowed us to unlock new inventory sources, acquire high-quality traders, and optimize performance beyond traditional channels.” — Sotiris Sotiriadis, Performance (UA) Media Team Lead, Exness
Wooga, the Berlin-based studio behind June’s Journey, has been running OEM campaigns through AVOW for over two years. The narrative-driven puzzle category lives or dies on creative resonance and long-tail retention, which makes channel quality more important than raw volume. In a 2025 Behind the Apps interview, former Senior Performance Marketing Manager Ferry Noordermeer described OEMs as a growing part of the studio’s install mix, with particular success in European markets they previously had not reached. The team also noted that ROAS held up better than expected, with retained players continuing to play for longer than initial models predicted, a signal that OEM users are not just cheap installs but durable cohorts.
“Especially in European markets, we have seen great success with OEMs, where we previously didn’t even tap it. AVOW has been the key partner for us to grow.” — Ferry Noordermeer, Former Senior Performance Marketing Manager, Wooga
These three examples are only a snapshot of what OEM advertising can deliver. AVOW has run campaigns for more than 150 brands across Europe, Turkey, MENA, India, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and more. What these examples share matters most: each turned to OEM as a deliberate diversification play, not a last resort when other channels stopped working. That timing is the lesson for French publishers planning 2026. Browse the full library of AVOW success stories for results across gaming, e-commerce, fintech, and more.
How do you scope OEM advertising for your own app?
The question most growth teams ask first is not “should we test OEM” but “where do we start?” The answer depends on three inputs:
- The markets you are already winning in. If your CPI on Meta and Google is creeping up in your strongest geos, OEM is a defensive play to protect that base.
- The markets you want to expand into next. Match your roadmap against the regional reach table above. Europe at 57% justifies a test on its own. MENA at 70% and Africa at 91% mean OEM is not optional.
- How Android-heavy your user base looks in each. iOS leads on revenue per user in France, but the Android scale that sits behind your international expansion is exactly where OEM lives.
Three free resources make the scoping concrete.
The AVOW reach map shows the regional breakdown above and lets you drill into each region’s top OEMs. Useful for mapping the channel against your expansion plan: if your roadmap leans heavily on MENA or Africa, the reach numbers tell you OEM is not optional there. If you are reinforcing in Europe, the map shows where Samsung and Xiaomi alone can move the needle.
The AVOW reach calculator goes one level deeper. Pick a target market, tell us your vertical, and you get a specific monthly active users estimate against AVOW’s network. It is the fastest way to turn “we should look at OEM” into a number you can put in a planning deck
The 2026 Mobile OEM Advertising Guide is the long-form version of this article. It walks through every OEM partner, every ad format, every targeting capability, and the performance models AVOW runs across each one. If the reach map tells you where the inventory is and the calculator tells you how much, the guide tells you what to actually do with it. Recommended reading for anyone building the internal case to test OEM as a 2026 channel.
For French publishers, the practical starting point is simple: model Europe first with the reach map, size the opportunity with the calculator, then use the guide to shape the test plan. Together, the three resources take OEM from “interesting idea” to a sized line item your CFO can sign off on.
The bottom line for French app publishers
The French app economy is growing. $3 billion in revenue, 50 million active users, 20.9% year-on-year growth. But the next 50 million users for most French apps are not in France. They are in the markets where the existing channels are saturating fastest and where OEM coverage hits 70%, 84%, 91%.
Search and social built the last decade of mobile growth. They are not going away, but they are not enough on their own anymore. Mobile OEM advertising is the third pillar of app growth: the channel that reaches users on the device itself, in the markets where Google and Meta reach less, through inventory the rest of the ad stack does not touch. For French publishers planning 2026, the question is not whether to test it. The question is which markets to start in and how fast to scale.
Book a demo with the AVOW team for a tailored read on your stack, your markets, and where OEM fits in your 2026 plan.
FAQ
Is OEM advertising just preloads? No. OEM advertising covers three distinct paths: alternative app stores, on-device display placements, and Dynamic Preloads. Preloads are one option among many.
Does OEM advertising work in Europe? Yes. AVOW reaches 57% of European users through OEM partners, primarily Samsung and Xiaomi. The Digital Markets Act is increasing rather than decreasing OEM relevance in the EU.
Which OEMs matter most for a French app publisher? For Europe, Samsung and Xiaomi. For LATAM expansion, Samsung and Xiaomi. For MENA and Africa, Samsung, Xiaomi, and Transsion. For India and Southeast Asia, Vivo, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Transsion.
How does OEM advertising compare to Google, Meta, and Apple? OEM channels access inventory that the Google, Meta, and Apple stack does not reach: device setup, alternative app stores, and on-device placements. They are complementary, not competitive. Most clients run OEM alongside their existing channels.
How are OEM campaigns measured? Through your existing MMP. AVOW integrates with AppsFlyer, Adjust, Singular, and Branch. Ad units are verified fraud-free by major MMPs.
What does an OEM campaign cost? Pricing varies by placement, geo, and OEM. Most campaigns run on CPI, CPC, or oCPC models. The reach calculator returns indicative pricing for your specific app and market.
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