More OEM partners, more inventory… but where should you actually invest?

Working with multiple OEMs can mean managing different partners, inventory, placements, costs and commercial conditions separately. For an advertiser, that means spending significant time comparing opportunities, understanding what each manufacturer can offer and deciding where investment actually makes sense.

First-impact Ads, Rocket Lab’s OEM advertising solution, brings access to multiple manufacturers into one managed solution, centralizing strategy, campaign management and optimization across OEM partners. It allows our team to take on the specialized work behind those decisions and determine where OEM can create the strongest opportunity for each advertiser.

Xiaomi, Motorola, Huawei, Oppo, Transsion and Honor are all part of Rocket Lab’s network of official OEM partners, together representing approximately 1.3 billion Android devices according to data provided through our partnerships. But access to that reach is only the starting point.

The opportunity is not determined by scale alone. It can change depending on the region, app category, device model, audience profile, available placements and cost efficiency. According to data provided through our OEM partnerships, Motorola has a much stronger presence in LATAM than in EMEA, while Huawei shows a different regional profile and Xiaomi has meaningful reach across both regions.

But geography is only one part of the decision. A particular OEM, device segment or placement may offer a stronger fit or more efficient costs for a specific app category, making it worth testing even when it is not the most obvious choice based on global scale.

The takeaway is simple: the best OEM opportunity is not necessarily the biggest one. It is the one that makes the most sense for the advertiser.

What makes the right OEM mix different for every advertiser

When several OEM partners are available, the more useful question is not which manufacturer is the biggest or which one should be used by default. It is which opportunity best supports what the advertiser is trying to achieve.

That means looking at the business objective, audience, market, available inventory and cost efficiency, but also at the broader acquisition strategy. OEM should not be evaluated in isolation. The right inventory should complement the channels already in the advertiser’s media mix and add value where there is a genuine opportunity to do so.

This is why the same OEM mix should not simply be replicated from one market or advertiser to another. A strategy built for LATAM may need to look very different in EMEA, even for the same advertiser. And two apps operating in the same market may still need completely different OEM strategies.

At Rocket Lab, that is the principle behind our agnostic approach to OEM advertising. Because we work across multiple manufacturers, the recommendation is not predetermined by one media source. We can evaluate the opportunities available and determine which manufacturer, inventory or combination of partners best supports the advertiser’s needs.

Being agnostic does not mean treating every OEM equally. It means keeping the options open until we understand where the strongest fit actually lies.

This is not a theoretical exercise. For a marketplace app operating across six markets in LATAM, the OEM strategy was built market by market rather than replicated: in two of them a single manufacturer covered the opportunity efficiently, while the others required combining two or three partners to reach the same volume at a competitive cost. The result was a blended cost per install of under $0.35 across more than 220,000 installs with the cost varying by close to 4x between the most and the least efficient market. Same app, same product, same quarter: the difference came entirely from the curation behind each market's mix.

From the app challenge to the right OEM strategy

This is where the consultative work behind First-impact Ads becomes especially important.

Our team begins by understanding the app’s challenge and the role OEM can play within its broader growth strategy. From there, we carry out the curation required to build the right approach, evaluating manufacturers, inventory and placements, comparing commercial conditions and costs, and identifying which opportunities best fit the advertiser.

For one app, that may mean prioritizing a specific OEM in a key market. For another, it may mean combining several partners or selecting inventory that complements an acquisition strategy already running across other channels.

This work requires specific knowledge of the OEM landscape and continuous evaluation of what is available across partners and markets. Rather than requiring the advertiser to assess manufacturers, negotiate different opportunities and manage each media source separately, First-impact Ads brings that expertise and execution together in one solution.

Rocket Lab manages the process from the initial recommendation and partner coordination through campaign management and ongoing optimization. The result is not simply easier access to OEM inventory, but a strategy curated around the app, its existing media mix and the opportunities most relevant to its growth goals.

Get in touch with our team of experts and let’s create the right solution for your business needs.