On Monday, word came that Shutterfly – the growing online social expression and personal publishing service – has acquired Penguin Digital, Inc.
If you’re not familiar, Penguin Digital is a mobile application developer that provides consumers with a fun and easy way to create, share and purchase photo merchandise right from their mobiles.
Penguin Digital launched an iPhone app in January 2012 called Mobile Photo Factory or MoPho for short, which allows anyone to easily create physical prints and photo based merchandise such as iPhone & iPad cases, mugs, key chains, apparel, canvas prints and more.
Shutterfly reminds us that by 2013, estimates suggest that more than half of all mobile phone users in the US will own a smartphone. Needless to say, the company claims that the acquisition of Penguin Digital further solidifies Shutterfly’s market leading position.
The MoPho application will be rebranded and updated over the next few months.
“The acquisition of Penguin Digital supports our mobile strategy aimed at giving consumers better ways to engage with their photos and personalize products on the go,” says Jeffrey Housenbold, president and CEO of Shutterfly. “We believe it’s important to give consumers the choice and convenience of transforming their memories into high quality products and gifts from their PC, tablet and mobile phone. Our recent strategic acquisitions of Nexo, TinyPrints, Photoccino and now Penguin Digital combined with our continued investment in organic growth and innovation further enables us to fulfill our vision of making the world a better place by helping people share life’s joy.”