App DOWNLOADS TO CROSS 8 BILLION

Riding on the back of spiralling usage of mobile devices, the number of app downloads in India is expected to surpass the 9 billion mark by 2015, according to an Assocham-Deloitte joint study. In 2012, the number of app downloads in India stood at 1.56 billion. The study, which was carried out among people aged between 16-30 years, said creating appropriate apps and local language content for each market, user education & awareness, promotions, could generate greater opportunities for telecom and media & entertainment industry. A mobile app is a computer program designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices. The consumer shift towards mobility devices and applications from fixed products and services provides technology providers, equipment manufacturers, content providers and marketers an opportunity to accelerate the development of mobile solutions, the study said. The move to mobile devices and cloud services presents technology providers with new opportunities to create a closer relationship with customers and increase customer loyalty. With India being a price sensitive society, people are still reluctant to pay for mobile games and downloading large file-sized games/apps despite of cheap gaming rates and mobile internet plans, the study said, adding that monetisation is a big issue for both the local and global mobile game developers entering the Indian market. Mobile gaming continues to gain momentum, as is evident from the ongoing interest of gaming companies in this market. The study said while Apple offers community-based experience with applications such as Game Center that is accessible on iPhones and iPads, Windows smartphones have Xbox Live. Android devices also have a wide array of app options, including messenger and gaming. On the social app side, the study observed that a paradigm shift was brought by the social media campaign in the recently concluded general elections. It found that around 29 million people made 227 million interactions related to polls on Facebook.