Apps and games market in India to reach Rs 2,700 cr by 2016

Indian apps and games market will reach Rs
2,700 crore by 2016, driven by strong smartphone
growth and expanding user base, according to a
recent report by Avendus capital.
According to the report, smartphone users in India
are expected to grow to 67 million this year and
382 million by 2016. The 3G subscriptions are
also expected to rise from 11 million in 2011 to
56 million this year and touch 266 million by
2016. The report stated that more than 50 per
cent of mobile Internet traffic and paid content
revenues comes from smartphones, dominated by
Apple and Google app stores which are
expected to generate revenue of Rs 800 crore by
2016.
Avendus Capital Executive Director and Head
(Digital Media and Technology) Ashish Bhinde
stated, "The digital content market (other than
caller ringback tones) in India has been sub-scale
due to large-scale piracy. Mobile Internet is
opening the doors for large-scale monetisation of
digital content through paid apps which is
expected to grow to become a Rs 2,000-crore
market in the next 3-4 years."
The report added that there will be increase in the
feature phone market and will help games and
apps ecosystem to grow. The report stated that
their are five categories that dominate the Indian
content on mobile phones including cricket, video,
news, music and games.
Bhinde added "While smartphones are driving
traffic to third-party app stores, there will still be
a significant mobile user base on feature phones
going forward, which in itself will provide a large
potential market for telco app stores."