Indians are falling in love with mobile apps. The average smartphone user in the country has 17 apps, says a recent study released by Google Mobile Planet. The number is close to the global average of 25 (South Korea leads with 41 apps—mostly games—per smartphone).
India’s app economy is estimated to be worth Rs 974 crore in 2014, and is expected to grow 66 percent to Rs 1,621 crore in 2015. This is particularly impressive because smartphone penetration here is low (about 18 percent).
India’s Department of Telecom (DoT) too seems to have smelt an opportunity, and has entered app financing. In May, it announced setting up an app development centre with an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore for three years. “I was surprised about the DoT taking the lead when apps seem to be more within the DEITY’s [Department of Electronics and Information Technology] subject area,” said Rohan Samarajiva, founding chair of LIRNEasia, an IT and telecom policy think tank.
The need for local app distribution platforms is also being recognised. “International app stores do not lend themselves to the easy discovery of highly India-specific regional content,” said Rajat Kathuria, director and chief executive at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.
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(This story appears in the 27 June, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Interesting. India will surpass global avg because of growth of shopping apps in mobile.
on Aug 10, 2015Mobile app development companies growth also goes viral in India.
on Jul 7, 2014India is seeing some great traction with apps made specially for Indian Users, from E-Commerce focused on Mobile shopping we will soon see a sharp rise apps targeted for India. I develop lot of apps for Indian users, recently did a Coupon app for finding coupons and offers for 120 Indian E-Commerce websites. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.binarybricks.dexterapps.discountme
on Jun 17, 2014