A recent survey conducted by Telecomlead.com, an online B2B telecom publication in association with market research and strategic consulting firm CellStrat, finds that there is a direct relationship between the rise in cost-effective smartphones and popularity of mobile applications.
The survey analyzes the latest trends and opportunities in the Mobile Apps market and provides stakeholders with valuable insight on this highly lucrative market segment.
Most of the survey respondents (93 percent) said the growing popularity of Mobile Apps can be attributed to the rise in cost-effective smartphones in India. Additionally, the emergence of latest generation technologies like 3G has started contributing for the success of Mobile Apps in India.
The survey conducted in April revealed that mobile apps that cater to provide news and related information are more popular among corporate customers. Around 100 senior professionals (senior managers and above) from technology, business development and marketing, who attended a CellStrat event in Bangalore, participated in the survey.
About 43 percent of the survey participants said they look for apps that provide them news alerts on telecom/IT from around the world in their smartphones. Other apps in the order of popularity are stocks & shares (17 percent), mobile video conferencing (14 percent) and gaming and entertainment. The survey shows mobile TV has not gained significant popularity among Indians, with only 7 percent of survey respondents citing this app as their preference.
While mobile advertising is emerging as a key marketing strategy among businesses, smartphone users are keen to make the best out of them. The survey results indicate that there is a huge opportunity in location-based advertising through mobile phones. A vast majority (71 percent) of the survey participants said location-based advertisement for discounts/offers at their favourite stores is the most useful mobile advertisement for them.
Mobile commerce is gaining popularity among Indians, with 60 percent of survey participants responding that mobile commerce relating to m-payments and m-banking are very important” to them and 29 percent citing it is important” to them.
With several leading operators now offering 3G services in India, there’s great expectation among smartphone users on the scope of the technology. Among the many features of the technology, web conferencing and streaming was rated as the most useful, followed by Internet surfing. Respondents are also keen to use the technology to download latest app from app stores, watch live entertainment and conduct m-commerce transactions.
When asked about the features to look for in a smart phone, more than half of corporate users said they are fascinated with smartphones with multi-window features for simultaneous chat, e-mail and video calling. The choice of mobile apps available from the phone maker attracts 17 percent of the participants. Facility for web conferencing is another key attribute they look for in their mobile devices.
Mobile app stores in India will have a great future ahead in India, the survey concludes. Among the several applications, mobile video conferencing is emerging as the most attractive applications among smartphone users.
By TelecomLead.com Team
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