Purch Acquires AnandTech, Dominates Tech Expert and Enthusiast Market
Leading content and commerce company adds respected mobile, computing, and IT reviews site to its brand portfolio
NEW YORK, NY (December 17, 2014) – Purch today announced the acquisition of AnandTech.com, a leader in mobile, computing and IT analysis and reviews. Purch’s industry-leading combination of high-quality content and integrated commerce experiences makes complex buying decisions easy for more than 100 million consumers and professionals monthly. With the acquisition of AnandTech, Purch furthers its mission to simplify purchase decisions for in-market tech consumers by adding one of the most popular computer components, hardware, and mobile reviews sites to a brand portfolio that already includes category heavyweight, Tom’s Hardware.
AnandTech has been at the forefront of the technological evolution, providing groundbreaking reviews and trend coverage of cutting-edge mobile and computing products since Anand Shimpi, one of the tech industry’s most authoritative and respected figures, founded it in 1997 at age 14.
“AnandTech has grown by leaps and bounds over the past several years, but we were nearing what’s possible as an independent company,” said Ryan Smith, editor-in-chief, AnandTech. “The challenge has always been that there are very few players in the publishing space these days who value deep, high-quality content. We wanted a partner that understood our values, had a sound business model to ensure AnandTech’s legacy would continue for years to come, and would allow us to grow and expand our readership without compromising the quality that made us who were are today. Purch provides all of these things. I am beyond excited about what we’ll be able to do with their support.”
“The addition of AnandTech to a brand portfolio that includes Tom’s Hardware, Tom’s Guide, and Top Ten Reviews unquestionably establishes Purch as the dominant provider of in-depth, quality technology content, serving technology buyers who want to ensure the value of their potential investments,” said Greg Mason, CEO, Purch. “Technology manufacturers, too, can be assured that their messages will reach any serious buyer. The two editorial teams represent the finest, most expert group of content talent in the technology space. ”
“AnandTech represents much of my life’s work over the past 18 years,” said Anand Shimpi, founder, AnandTech. “I am happy to see it end up with a partner committed to taking good care of the brand and its readers. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
Purch offers brands and advertisers unmatched reach to tens of millions of discerning in-market tech consumers and professionals each month. These tech “enthusiasts” look to the kind of detailed research, benchmark testing, and advice from category experts during their buying process for which Tom’s Hardware and AnandTech are known. Readers trust that advice because it is backed by nearly two decades of testing every mobile and PC component imaginable, and is supported by unprecedented input and guidance from the biggest, passionate community of like-minded enthusiasts.
Purch’s acquisition of AnandTech is the company’s most recent move in a series of strategic acquisitions and partnerships aimed at furthering its mission to ease complex buying decisions for shoppers and deliver branding and performance results to advertisers. In 2013, the company acquired the renowned “Tom’s” brand of tech media sites and, earlier this year, purchased BuyerZone, the leading online marketplace for SMB buyers and sellers. Purch’s ability to trigger buying decisions in an array of product categories is evidenced by the more than 7,000 marketers and sellers that come to Purch to connect with ready-to-buy consumers. Each year, Purch’s content-commerce combination drives more than one billion dollars in commerce transactions.
In addition to the acquisition, Purch is now the number one technology publisher in the U.S., [1] with a global readership of more than 100 million monthly unique visitors.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
To find out more about Purch, visit www.purch.com or follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
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About Purch
Purch is a portfolio of digital brands and services that helps make complex buying decisions easy for 100 million consumers monthly. Its respected sites such as Top Ten Reviews, Tom’s Guide, Tom’s Hardware, and Live Science natively integrate commerce and content in more than 1000 product categories so consumers can make better choices before, during, and after an important purchase.
The company helps marketers achieve their branding and performance objectives in a high-quality, brand-safe context. Its sites connect in-market shoppers with more than 7,000 marketers and sellers, driving industry-leading conversion rates and $1 billion in commerce transactions annually.
Purch is a high-growth, privately held company with more than 350 employees and offices across the U.S. and Europe.
For more information on Purch, visit www.purch.com or follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
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[1] Source: comScore U.S. Media Metrix, Tech-News category ranking by unique visitors, PC audience, September 2014
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Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
(Sorry, accidental "Submit Comment" click -- I guess it's getting way past my bed time)...With two (or more) people covering SSDs we could significantly improve our output in that field. More reviews also mean that we have more products to compare to, which ultimately means that we will be able to make better recommendations. Having two editors would also allow one to focus on client and the other on enterprise, which would be beneficial from both content and vendor relations standpoints.
As for quality, with more editors we could have more people working on one review. Take iPhone and iPad reviews for instance -- there are numerous subjects to explore, which take a lot of time if it's all done by one person. With more editors and resources we'll be able publish reviews sooner after the release and explore areas that otherwise we might not be able to do due to time restrains.
While I believe our content is already high quality like you said, there is always room for improvement and the acquisition (at least in theory) allows us to deliver even better content to you guys :)
soccerballtux - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
that's true. If this is just about resources this could really turn into a good thing. The reivews have always been the best here, there just weren't enough of them.Impulses - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
If moar content is all we get and it remains at the level of quality we're used, this will be a huge success, lens hope so as more more more is the only thing I've ever wished out of AT.FunBunny2 - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
I'm not sure there's much sense to that. What I glean from the reviews: you wait for the vendors to freebie the parts rather than spending a couple of hundred (or three or four) bucks. The big deal enterprise vendors won't do that, since their parts go for the kilo bucks, and their potential clients won't use AnandTech reviews in decision making. So, you'll buy a Violin array for test, now that Purch owns you? Was there such a transition at Tom's? I think not.Prosumer is as far as it makes sense for the site. SMB at the outside. Even there, most ISP/VAR vendors bundle hardware of their choosing.
alacard - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
You hit the nail on the head FunBunny2. Kristian, please contact Purch and have them provide invoices detailing the extra funds they've invested into Toms in order to:a) Increase the number of editors
b) Increase the quantity and quality of content created
c) Purchase gadgets for themselves to review that they wouldn't have gotten otherwise
d) Or otherwise improve their infrastructure
All this talk of more money equaling more higher quality content with a longer reach and a wider focus seems to contradict my subjective viewpoint that Tomshardware has only gotten worse in all of those metrics since their acquisition. I hope the evidence will show otherwise.
Kristian Vättö - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
Sampling isn't only about money, but also about getting access to parts under NDA. Take the 850 EVO for instance -- it's not launching for retail until sometime after Christmas. If we waited for retail availability, our review would easily be over a month late compared to our competition.We already have close relations with pretty much all of the big enterprise SSD guys (Intel, Samsung, SanDisk/Fusion-io...) and get samples from them, even though the parts cost thousands of dollars. Storage arrays are a very interesting, yet complicated topic, but ultimately most storage arrays consist of SSDs made by the aforementioned companies.
Luscious - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
"Sampling isn't only about money, but also about getting access to parts under NDA. Take the 850 EVO for instance -- it's not launching for retail until sometime after Christmas. If we waited for retail availability, our review would easily be over a month late compared to our competition."I call BS on that. The LG 34UM95 monitor became available retail in the U.S. on May 1st. I know because I purchased mine on that very day and had it running on my desk that night. On June 2 the full review was up on my website. AnandTech's review and Tom's review only appeared WEEKS AFTER that.
Maybe the SSD segment works different, but you are mistaken thinking that buying a retail sample equals a delay. I can point to many examples where having a retail sample to review would have put me in the very front of the line, ahead of all the "big name" media outlets, and I'm just a one-man operation.
Kristian Vättö - Thursday, December 18, 2014 - link
Luscious,It certainly depends on the product and company. Some of the SSD companies I deal with don't do NDA samples (even though I've tried to convince them) and you are correct that sometimes it would be faster to buy a retail unit.
However, generally speaking, I see nothing wrong with being sampled by the manufacturer. We could argue about the possibility of rigged samples, but the truth is that eventually companies get caught and then sh*t will hit the fan big time, so any rational company should understand that it's not worth the risk.
Kingston's V300 is a prime example as Kingston went and changed to slower NAND without a notice. We called them out and I know for a fact that their sales plummeted after that (I got access to major retailer's sales data here in the Nordic region). That also explains why Kingston is no longer offering us review samples... But I couldn't care less about that -- I value the truth and integrity higher than a relationship with a company that isn't honest with its customers.
Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
And just to add (since there's still no edit button...), nothing should change for us editors. The business side of the site will go through a full revamp, but the business and editorial sides have always been completely separated. As long as that promise is kept and we can continue our work like yesterday, you should see absolutely no change either, at least for the worse.However, if things do change for the worse, then I'll (and likely others too) be on my way out as well, so Purch should have every motive to keep us happy.
sonicmerlin - Wednesday, December 17, 2014 - link
Why isn't there an edit button again?