Hardware to Software: Changing consumer preference

A few years back the sale of a mobile phone depended on its hardware. What specifications it has, for instance, does it have a camera in it, what is the memory size of the phone, does it support video recording and a lot similar queries. But now no one asks such questions because these features are included in almost every handset. So what are the mobile users looking for in a phone today? They are looking for applications - for music, for work, for connectivity, for social networking and more. Which phone supports which sort of application really matters a lot.

Today all our activities are app centered - whether we want to shoot an e-mail or save documents, mobile phone is our man friday. For instance, if we want to go to some distant place and we are unfamiliar with the route Google map apps comes in handy. You can also connect with your friends and acquaintance using the social networking applications such as the Facebook and Twitter.

A lot of phones from domestic and international players these days come preloaded with all the popular apps like snaptu, Facebook, Nimbuz pushemails, google maps, google voice and many more. If you like Samsung handsets then Samsung Chat series is one good option because it supports all social networking apps along with the e-mail and IM apps.

If you crave for more apps login to Apple itunes, google Android Market, Blackberry Appworld to get your dose of more feature rich apps, most of which are available for free.

If we count the number of apps downloaded per day, then App store is winning with 29.6 million downloads, whereas, around 5 million apps are downloaded from android market and 5 and 3 millions for Nokia and Blackberry respectively.

The growth rate of the applications is pretty high as earlier Ovi store had just 25,000 apps, but now it has reached up to 50, 000, similar is the case with Blackberry and Apple. But at present, apple is the biggest application store with more than 3,50,000 applications.

Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone, idea Cellular and reliance communications are also willing to launch their own application store through which consumers can download their choice of apps with one platform only which would definitely make it easier for consumers to download apps and work on it.

It comes as no surprise that app market is heading for more growth, fueled by changing consumer preference.