<div><em>By 2016, average data usage per subscriber in India is expected to double and the number of smartphones is expected to cross 200 million, says <strong>Haider Ali</strong></em><br><br>Mobile apps are becoming an integral part of our lives. The shift from e-commerce to m-commerce is accelerating, with Indians engaging with their mobile shopping, news and personalized apps almost round the clock, making Indian mobile app usage outpace global app usage, resulting in India app usages growing by 131 per cent.</div><div> </div><div>Google, IBM, Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC), Impetus Infotech (India) Pvt. Ltd, Vserv, Junglee Games and many entrepreneurs and organisations associated with developing, producing or consuming Mobile Apps, converged at Apps India 2015 at New Delhi on Wednesday (19 August).</div><div> </div><div>Mobile Apps are playing a pivotal role in creating employment and entrepreneurs, enabling ease in doing business and driving inclusive development through e-Education, e-Governance, e-Health Apps and e-Commerce.</div><div> </div><div>The number of smartphones using mobile apps of e-commerce companies has gone up from 1,680 (21 per cent in May 2014) to 4,320 (54 per cent in May 2015). It is based on real-time mobile usage data across 8,000 handsets in the country.</div><div> </div><div>Around 9 billion apps will be downloaded in India in 2015, more than five times the number of apps downloaded in 2012 (1.56 billion) at a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of 75 per cent.</div><div> </div><div>“App economy has created about 75,000 direct jobs in India, and has the potential to reach 6,00,000 over a period of time. India App ecosystem is estimated to be in the range of Rs.2,000 crore by 2016,” said Sandeep Ladda, Partner & India Technology and e-Commerce Sector Leader at PwC.</div><div> </div><div>The revenues from paid apps are estimated to exceed Rs. 1500 crore in 2015, up from Rs. 900 crore in 2014, driven by increased app usage on smartphones. “Also, expansion of 3G network coverage and the rollout of 4G networks in 2015 are expected to further boost smartphone sales in the country,” the report said.</div><div> </div><div>India is expected to have the largest number of software developers by 2017. It has around 300,000 app developers and is already the second largest Android developer community in the world.</div><div> </div><div>By 2016, average data usage per subscriber in India is expected to double and the number of smartphones is expected to cross 200 million.</div><div> </div><div>With more than 300 million internet users, India has the second largest internet user base in the world. It is estimated that the number of Internet users in India will touch 503 million by 2017.</div><div> </div><div>“Indian Mobile Apps is being driven by the increased usage of smart phones coupled with low mobile tariffs bridging the digital divide between metros, non-metros and rural areas. Users accessing the Internet through their mobile devices have become a key driver for the growth of mobile apps,” said Ashay Padwal, Co-Founder at Vserv.</div>
