While mobile applications are enjoying a boom, the real action will happen in the mobile Web, local experts say.
A number of factors have converged recently to spur the use of applications over mobile devices. The increasing sophistication and affordability of smartphones, the rising number of application developers, upgrades to mobile networks, and per-second billing by cellular operators have contributed to the increased uptake of applications by consumers.
Vodacom's managing executive for online services, Mark Taylor, says his network has had more than 200 000 applications downloaded in SA for the year to August.
He says the number of places for downloading apps has increased dramatically. Online portals include Nokia's Ovi Store, and Google's Android store, which has grown from 80 000 to 120 000 apps in less than a year.
“We are seeing a small, but significant interest in our Vodafone [Vodacom's parent] apps store,” Taylor says.
Earlier this week, handset manufacturer Nokia stated in an official blog that SA had seen a 486% surge in apps being downloaded. However, it did not give a base figure to qualify the statement.
Wider appeal
Taylor also says smartphones are not only for the well-heeled or the geek at heart. “Phones are becoming more and more affordable. For instance, we have the V845 model that retails at R1 399 and is a fully-functioning Android phone. Another phone that is close to smartphone-capable is the V454 and retails for R399,” he says.
While the short-term excitement is about apps for phones and tablet-type devices, the real long-term trend is about Web mobility. Taylor, along with other mobile experts, is keeping an eye on the strong growth in the mobile Web.
Nicholas Haralambous, co-founder of Motribe Mobile Networks, says: “The mobile medium is massive in Africa. There are more people in SA with a mobile phone than a television, so it's no surprise to me that apps are starting to take-off. However, the mobile Web is where most of the mobile growth is taking place in Africa.”
Haralambous says many people are unable to afford the features or smartphones that are required to download and run applications.
“No doubt there is a hunger for mobile applications, as people seek to extend the functionality of their phones,” says social media and marketing guru Dave Duarte. “From a developer's perspective, however, apps are not a panacea of profitability. If the experience of iPhone app developers is anything to go by, most people who download apps hardly use them the day after downloading.”
Falling interest
Duarte emphasises his point by referring to US analytics firm Pinch Media, which found that only 30% of people who buy an iPhone application actually use it the day after it was purchased.
Taylor agrees the mobile Web is the future of mobile Internet connectivity. Vodacom (through Vodafone) owns distribution of Web browser Opera Mini and has increased its data usage and revenue, although it is still at a small portion of overall spend by consumers.
According to Taylor, for the 12 months to August, Vodacom saw more than one million minutes of data being downloaded via its Opera Mini, and revenue from this more than doubled to R8.2 million, from R3.2 million the year before.
“Products that give up to 80% compression ratios are exploding into the African market,” Taylor says. “Web browsers over the Mobile Web allow for faster access by consumers to social media sites like Facebook, Mxit and Twitter. They can upload their photographs and other information they want to share and apps just don't do this.”
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