Distimo and the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) have issued a report on Apple’s App Store in Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The two organisations have concluded that the most popular applications are priced higher in the emerging markets than in the USA, where games are more popular. However, average prices have decreased in both regions since December 1, 2009. One very popular application in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE is Instant Messaging (IM), where examples include WhatsApp Messenger, Live Messenger and Easy IM Free.
Distimo, which is dedicated to mobile app store analysis, and MEF, which is the global trade body of the mobile media and entertainment industry, also incorporated data from the United States for comparison purposes.
As a reminder of the potential for professional and business applications, the latter within the navigation and medical categories are at their most expensive in the emerging markets, the same as they are in the United States. The average price of the most popular applications in the finance, medical, navigation and reference categories is higher, however, in the emerging markets than in the United States due to a multitude of expensive applications that are only popular in the former.
In the case of games, they are more popular in the USA than in emerging markets: 56% of the most popular applications in the United States are games, compared to only 29% in the emerging markets. The difference is even larger when it comes to revenue generation: 54% of the highest grossing applications in the USA are games compared to only 17% in the emerging markets.
“We’re delighted to welcome Distimo as a member and strategic partner,” states MEF Executive Director Rimma Perelmuter. “The partnership represents a “win-win” for both parties since it gives Distimo a great platform to share its unique analytics with MEF’s member companies, while enhancing membership value through exclusive market insight. Distimo’s first MEF report offers our members a fascinating snapshot of App Stores across the Middle East, comparing and contrasting the results with data from the United States.”
“Distimo is all about mobile app store content and analytics and MEF Forum has a strong history of driving mobile content adoption which equates to a great strategic partnership for MEF and Distimo,” comments Vincent Hoogsteder, CEO and co-founder of Distimo.
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