India to Replace US as Second Largest Smartphone Market as Smartphone Web Traffic exceeds device ownership. Android App Revenues also to hit $6.8 Billion this year.
So yeah, that’s all kind of a mouth-ful. In any case, let me give you the low-down on what you need to know about what’s going on in the mobile industry. “Phablets” (Smartphones bigger than 5″ but small than 6.99″) currently account for more than 30% of India’s total market.
International Data Corporation found that the # of phablets shipped grew 17-fold over just last year. Meanwhile devices grew 30% YOY. Comparing Q2 shipments from 2012 (3.5 million) to this years, (9.3 million) it’s more than evident that it has shot up more than 50%.
IDC senior market analyst, Manasi Yadav, went on to say:
“The growth in the Indian smartphone market is driven by consistent performance by local vendors who accounted for more than half of the total smartphone market in Q213.”
IDC senior analyst, Kiranjeet Kaur, also added:
“The key for growth in this market, as with most emerging markets, is a low-priced phone equipped with a large screen and dual SIM slots.”
Currently Samsung and Nokia head the indian market, which makes positive for Micrsoft who just acquired the majority of Nokia.
Needless to say, cheaper devices are expected to ship more than 750 million by 2018 and are obviously more attractive to emerging markets.
Moving on..
On the topic of foreign markets, it was discovered by 51Degrees.mobi that almost 100% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices in some countries. Leading the way is: Denmark, Israel, Spain, Australia and South Korea (who averages around 53%), respectively.
Briefly, when we look at a recent report from Fiksu it is apparent that the cost to gain loyal users is again on the rise, and has increased along with number of downloads since July. For the first time since December 2011, prices are at a record high ($1.80 per loyal user) coming up 20% from the former $1.50.
Fiksu claims that this is the result of two main trends:
1) Brands using facebook’s mobile advertising platform.
and
2)The App Stores ranking system which pushes top-rated apps up the charts, while lower-ranking apps are forced to spend more money to regain their place.
From June to July daily-downloads grew 33% YOY from 5.6 million to 5.8 million.
CEO of Fiksu, Micah Adler said:
“There’s major sea change everywhere, now that Apple’s ranking algorithm appears to favour highly-rated apps and penalize others. App marketers must now work even harder to generate positive ratings from engaged users, since user acquisition costs for apps without stellar ratings will now be more expensive.”
If you haven’t already heard..
Android’s newest operating system is called the “KitKat”. But aside from that, Android app revenues are expected to hit $6.8 billion this year which represents almost double the figure from 2012 (according to ABI Research).
Despite this fact, Android revenues still train iOS. What’s really driving this surge in revenue is in-app advertising, as Google naturally trumps Apple in analytics and search. In addition however, operator billing from emerging markets is certainly making it easier for in-app purchases that has certainly contributed to over-all revenues as well.
ABI senior analyst, Josh Flood had this to say:
“Apple’s iOS still leads all the other mobile operating systems’ revenues by a significant margin; however, the greater number of Android smartphones in use is clawing back Apple’s lead in this market. This year, Android smartphones will ship by a factor of more than three-to-one to iPhones.”
For all the Glassholes out there..
Analysts are already projecting that the Glass Market could be worth $3.3 Billion in just 3 years (of launch). This is the case if only 650,000 people end up actually wearing the device. This is according to VB who reported on the subject earlier this week.
As consumers who are naturally addicted to digesting as much information as we possibly can, I feel that Google Glass will far outweigh demand than Apple’s iWatch. That is, until – Apple comes out with their own version and (hopefully – or not) disrupts the market yet again as they did back in 2007 with the invention of the original iPhone.
Kevin is an Online and Mobile Marketing Strategist who has worked with companies of all sizes over the last 6 years. You can follow Kevin on any of the social platforms below.
