Commentary

Enter The Suits: Deloitte Acquires Ubermind

SmartphonesThe folks at mobile strategy and developer Ubermind confirmed what had been rumored since before the new year. The company behind Apple’s own Web site and mobile store as well as many other m-commerce sites and apps (Target, AllRecipes, etc.) has been acquired by Deloitte Consulting LLP. Seems like a curious early-out for a hot company. Selling out to ‘the man’ so soon, fellows? Which prompted Ubermind itself to admit on its blog announcing the buyout, “We get that this raises a whole lot of questions.”

For Deloitte of course, this acquisition puts them deep into the next big thing. Ubermind has a boatload of experience with some of the most advanced retail app designs. These guys finally made Amtrak reservations manageable for me on a cell phone. For that alone I tip the hat. But they have also been the force behind the Apple online shopping experience as well as iTunes. Deloitte already has a range of services for businesses and this is the next natural step. The company boasts products that address strategy, creative, Web, e-commerce and content.

Ubermind has over 200 employees after some recent expansion, reports GeekWire, which also claims it heard that the price was between $40 million and $50 million. Ubermind says that it jumped at the chance to join Deloitte to “be part of something big.” Time will tell if the company joined something too big to maintain its upstart startup identity in the world of suits.

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