BENGALURU: India has clocked the second-largest number of mobile app downloads, overtaking the US and trailing only China, according to a report from App Annie — a third-party agency which collates data on apps. 

This data is inclusive of Apple’s iOS Store, Google Play and third-party Android stores. App usage grew rapidly in India, driven by the introduction of subsidised, unlimited 4G access by Reliance Jio in September 2016, the report noted. India saw a growth of about 215% while US .

Chinese video app Bigo Live and Google Drive are the other top apps where Indians have spent significantly in 2017, the data in the report pointed out. Star Indiaowned Hotstar is another OTT player in the top 10 apps here with high consumer spends. The report did not specify the amount consumers spent on these apps throughout last year. 

The data indicates an interesting trend where Indians are starting to pay for various apps. The more mature a market is, the higher chances of monetisat.

Tinder, which launched in 2012, started its India office — the first outside the US — in 2016. In India, with the rise of smartphone usage and cheaper data, multiple startups have ventured into online dating. Some of the other prominent names in this space include TrulyMadly, Floh and Woo. Netflix competes with the likes of Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video. Gaming, which sees a higher number of paying users traditionally than other segments, saw Teen Patti emerging as the top gaming app in India.

Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/