Direct carrier billing company Fortumo today announced that it has signed partnerships with global smartphone manufacturers Oppo Electronics and Gionee. As part of these partnerships, Fortumo's direct carrier billing product will be implemented for payments in the manufacturers' app stores and Fortumo's app catalogue will become available for device preloads.

"Oppo's and Gionee's strong focus on emerging markets is aligned with that of Fortumo as we all believe that the next billion smartphone owners coming from these regions will also want access to top entertainment content," said Gerri Kodres, senior vice president of business development and carrier relations at Fortumo. "Fortumo can enable this through simple and accessible payments and we are happy to be the billing provider of choice for the app stores of these leading OEMs."

Gionee and Oppo are among a new wave of quickly growing Asian smartphone manufacturers, according to the announcement. In total, they produce and ship more than 60 million smartphones annually that reach consumers in emerging markets such as southeast Asia, Africa and India.

Fortumo's app catalogue, which will become available to Gionee for preloads, includes apps and games from some of the biggest developers in the world: Gameloft; GLU Mobile; Creative Mobile; Rovio; Zeptolab; EA Mobile; Boyaa; Herocraft; and Floor84 Studios, among others.