The stats say it all; Nokia has lesser number of applications on its Ovi Store compared to Apple App Store.
With more than 1 billion downloads to date, the total number of approved iOS apps has already reached the 500K mark; while that of Symbian platform is still trailing less than tenth of Apple’s figure. But is it really a bad thing for Nokia? Well, not always, according to German-based research firm
. Nokia having fewer apps at its Ovi Store means lower competition between app publishers, and could be an advantage for its apps to be downloaded several times in a day giving the fact that Nokia has large user base. And the same goes to other players like Microsoft and RIM.
Based on previous quarter’s results of its smartphone application monitoring report, the firm says “that those applications published on the less popular platforms, such as WP7 marketplace or Blackberry’s AppWorld, generate significantly more downloads compared to the Apple App Store.”
Well, seems quite promising for Symbian developers, indeed. But it would have been better if we can see which and what type of apps are being downloaded. Press release follows below.
Apps On Nokia’s OVI Store Had 2.5 Times Higher Download Numbers In Q2 2011 Compared To Apps on Apple App Store
The “average app” has a better chance to generate downloads on “non-hyped” platforms.
Despite all the hype around the major platforms Android and iOS, publishers are still overlooking the hidden potentials of the niche players. The Q2 2011 results of our smartphone application monitoring report indicate that those applications published on the less popular platforms, such as WP7 marketplace or Blackberry’s AppWorld, generate significantly more downloads compared to the Apple App Store.
Significantly lower competition, yet a sufficiently large user base that desires apps, are the major reasons for this. Symbian still retains, by far, the highest potential user base. Even though its users are incomparably less active than iOS’s heavy downloaders, it still generates significant download volumes to Symbian publishers. This is largely because whilst Apple boasts of its 400,000 apps, the OVI store contains less than a tenth of that number.
Looking into average numbers, the Android Market stands not far behind the Apple App Store. This quarter, the average Android App attracted just 5% less users than iOS. Competition is harsh.
However, going in for very small niche platforms may not be the best idea either. LG World! and Samsung’s App Store are struggling to generate user attention. Although LG has less than 3,000 apps and as a result it is much easier to be discovered there, its user base is just too low.
Although the Symbian platform is seen by some developers to be clumsy and outdated, as well as Nokia’s transition to WP7 which has fuelled discussions as to when Nokia will give up its platform completely, the current status seems to be promising. Recently, Nokia reported the launch of three new Symbian Smartphones and confirmed that these will not be the last of the products, nor updates, to be delivered on Symbian.
Find other important Q2 2011 market developments in the new volume of the research2guidance Smartphone App Market Monitor. The third volume of the report includes a special interest chapter on mobile retail market.
