Journal of Management (JOM) ISSN 2347-3940 (Print), ISSN 2347-3959 (Online), Volume 1, Issue 1, July -December (2013)

JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT (JOM)

ISSN 2347-3940 (Print) ISSN 2347-3959 (Online) Volume 1, Issue 1, July-December (2013), pp. 61-67 IAEME: http://www.iaeme.com/jom.asp

JOM
IAEME

HUGE GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FOR MOBILE APPS IN THE CONVERGENCE ERA

Dr. Vinit Dani Associate Professor, Symbiosis International University Ms. Vanishree Pabalkar Assistant Professor, Symbiosis International University

ABSTRACT Mobile devices have rapidly become an important source for procuring information through Internet. This is evident in all age groups. In a world, brimming with the latest technologies and smart phones, which are equipped with smart apps that are either in built or can be downloaded, which is subsequently giving rise to ubiquitous opportunities for the gaming apps on the smart phones. Transactions on the mobile through Internet have become part of daily life. The various apps enable one to carry out many transactions through the mobile and therefore more customers are now willing to pay a premium price for the services related to apps and games. One of the key drivers for this tremendous growth is the improvements in the network quality, wide coverage and reasonable tariffs. Therefore the customers experience with the service provider has been ranging from good to better which further propels the customer to prescribe for Value added services (VAS), and other apps.As per a report of Juniper research, November 2011, revenues from mobile entertainment content and services are expected to increase by 15% in 2011 from $33.2 billion. Out of this, mobile gaming has garnered around $800 million of the revenue. There is a huge surge among the customers who intend to download and buy games on various devices including iOS devices, and smartphones. Key words: iOS, VAS, Mobile apps, Customer, Technologies INTRODUCTION Many Service providers are coming up with different innovations happening in the field of technology which offer interesting gaming experience. These games are easily
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Journal of Management (JOM) ISSN 2347-3940 (Print), ISSN 2347-3959 (Online), Volume 1, Issue 1, July -December (2013) downloadable or can be bought by the customer at a very reasonable price. Freemium is a business model which is one of the most preferred model that is based on the quality it has to provide for gaming application. For the innovators, the game would cost very less and subsequently, for a better level of gaming the user has to buy the accessories that comprise of tools for additional levels. These are the ways and means through which the companies which are into gaming applications generate huge revenue. According to a survey conducted, 84% of the tablet owners are engaged continuously playing and downloading various games on their devices. From the list of top 25 most played or downloaded games, there are 51 % of free games, 27% cost 99 cents and $1.99 and above are 22% of the games. There is a huge market potential for this yet, with the rapid expansion that is happening in the Android market, there will many more free apps than the app store for the customer.The market for Mobiles equipped with adequate no. of apps remains bullish for the young target audience since these are the customers who are lured by the new and innovative technologies, games, and apps that get introduced every now and then. The markets have a very optimistic growth in the future as well. GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITIES THE INDIAN SCENARIO India has a very huge potential for the mobile apps and gaming markets with over 584 million mobile subscribers for apps and downloading the games in the FYI 2010 and the industry has very wide untapped market yet. Some of the key drivers for this boom in the market of mobile apps include the advancements that have revolutionized the market with the smart phones, 3G and 4G handsets that have made the life much simpler. As per the report of India Mobile Gaming Analysis, Indian mobile gaming industry has been growing at a very fast rate from the past 5-7 years. It is also expected that the market would eventually become highly competitive with entry of international players, who would adopt some of the strategies that would either be innovative or differentiation strategies to stand out in the market. OBJECTIVES To identify the drivers responsible for growth of mobile games and apps. To understand the customers perspective towards downloading gaming apps.

LITERATURE REVIEW Smart phones are all set to drive the markets with very high growth rates. A report by Gartner says that the simple versions of the mobile phones are bound to become more obsolete with time. It is estimated that by the FYI 2015, around 95% of the mobile phones sold in Western Europe will be Smartphones. Another report from Gartner says that the total number of mobile app downloads is in the FY 2012 exceed 100 billion. The apps that are available free of cost are the ones most preferred and downloaded than those which involve cost. By FU 2017, Gartner predicts that around 95 percent of the apps and the games can be downloaded free of cost. This implies that the customer would be more engaged thereby the revenue generation would this accounts to the revenue generation. Apple, through app purchases accounts for 76 percent of all the revenue for iOs apps.
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Journal of Management (JOM) ISSN 2347-3940 (Print), ISSN 2347-3959 (Online), Volume 1, Issue 1, July -December (2013) Ipsos Study, on Mobile Consumer Evolution 2011 states that there are currently 12 million private users of Smartphones over the age of 18 overall and around 65-70% of them would not like to part with the smart phone even for a minute. Managing the work, transactions online with access to internet has actually brought in massive changes in the world. As per a report of androidcentral.com, Virtual reality is what customers expect even in the apps and games, but thats going to take longer. Independent developers of apps are striving towards developing a couple of games that would be different from the existing ones and would drive more of customers attention. The word app is listed as the word of the year by the American Dialect Society in 2010.The mobile apps and the games are currently at a juncture where in the next revolution in terms of technology is looked at. This includes the virtual reality headsets like the muchanticipated Oculus Rift, there are as well gesture-based controls, like Microsofts Kinect and Leap Motion, and wearable computing in the form of Google Glass. As per ABI Research, Apples app store is the oldest, largest, and best.The second largest and the oldest in apps is The Google play, around 33 percent of the apps purchased only games. There are almost 26 cross platform app stores, 13 android, 5 iOS, and 3 Blackberry. As per Solutions Group, 46% of the total time is spent on gaming and downloading and using different apps. CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND As per the report of Marketresearch.com, the number of apps downloaded by a person is growing in the mature markets. The driving forces for this rapid growth include the multiplication in the number of users of smartphones which in it selves has many apps and few more can further be downloaded or can be purchased. The smartphone shipments worldwide are expected to reach 823 million by end of FY 2013. Smartphones have accounted to 41 percent of total handset shipments during the FY 2012. This is expected to reach at least 46 percent by the year end. From 680 million smartphones shipped in the FY 2012, a tremendous growth in the shipments by 1296 is expected by FY 2017. Similarly, the sales of Tablets are escalating and are enjoying an explosive growth. Tablet shipments are forecast to average a CAGR of 24 percent from the FY 2012-2017, which is a rise from 2012 shipments of 136 million, to 2013 shipments of 208 million, going on to 2017 shipments of 398 million devices. Therefore is forecasted by Marketresearch.com that over the period from 2012-2017, the number of apps users will grow at a CAGR of 29.8 percent, to reach 4.4 billion users by the end of 2017, which would be as much as 4 times as the users of apps that are existing in the market currently. METHODOLOGY A combination of Exploratory and Descriptive research was conducted. The consumer behavior and the drivers responsible for growth of mobile games and apps were studied through Descriptive research. Exploratory research was carried out to understand the customers perspective towards downloading the games and apps. Convenience sampling was used to obtain the responses. Sample size was 200 customers using smart phones.

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Journal of Management (JOM) ISSN 2347-3940 (Print), ISSN 2347-3959 (Online), Volume 1, Issue 1, July -December (2013) DATA ANALYSIS H1: Smart phones and Tablets are the main growth drivers responsible for growth in the mobile games and the apps market. Categories * Growth driver cross tabulation Count Growth drivers Yes Categories Smart Phones Tablets Entertainment Fun Total 38 18 5 1 62 No 50 38 4 1 93 88 56 9 2 155 Total

Chi-Square Tests Value Pearson Chi-Square Likelihood Ratio Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases 2.802a 2.814 .060 155 df 3 3 1 Asymp.Sig. (2- sided) .423 .421 .806

Observation Calculated Chi square value = 2.802 Level of significance PH0 = 0.05 Observed value Pobs = 0.423 If Pobs < PH0 we reject H0 Result: Accept hypothesisH1 Inference: Smartphones, Tablets and other categories where customers are seeking entertainment and fun are the growth drivers at a confidence level 95%

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Journal of Management (JOM) ISSN 2347-3940 (Print), ISSN 2347-3959 (Online), Volume 1, Issue 1, July -December (2013) H2: The operating system of a mobile platform has a significant effect on the number of hours spent on downloading games and apps. Operating_System * Hours_Spent_Gaming Cross tabulation Count Hours_Spent_Gaming <1 hour Operating Antroid _System i-Phone Blackberry Symbian Windows Total 14 5 6 17 1 43 1-2 hours 12 7 6 4 0 29 2-3 hours 3 11 2 7 2 25 3-4 hours 12 3 3 4 2 24 4-7 hours 5 7 0 0 0 12 7-14 hours 0 5 0 1 0 6 > 14 hours 1 1 0 0 0 2 Total 47 39 17 33 5 141

Chi-Square Tests Value Pearson Chi-Square Likelihood Ratio Linear-by-Linear Association N of Valid Cases 47.655a 54.056 4.206 141 df 24 24 1 Asymp.Sig. (2- sided) .003 .000 .040

Observation Calculated Chi square value = 47.655 Level of significance PH0 = 0.05 Observed value Pobs = 0.003 If Pobs < PH0 we reject H2 Result: Reject Null hypothesis Inference: The operating system of a mobile platform has no significant impact on the number of hours spent on playing games on the mobile phone at a confidence level of 95%.

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Journal of Management (JOM) ISSN 2347-3940 (Print), ISSN 2347-3959 (Online), Volume 1, Issue 1, July -December (2013) FINDINGS Mobile usage with access to Internet, games and apps is rising across all countries. The Gender gap is also being bridged, with around 59 percent of men accessing the Internet with games and apps when compared to women which amounts to 58 percent across the World. The Internet is used more for personal matters than for work related issues. Major app stores are profiled as below: Apple App Store Google Play BlackBerry World Windows Phone Store Nokia Store Carrier-owned Applications Stores AT&T TIM China Mobile GetJar As per Marketresearch.com, by the end of FY 2013, there will be 82 billion apps downloaded worldwide, which would amount to a cumulative total to 165 billion apps by the end of the year. From this doubling of the mobile downloads, games and apps business in 2013, the forecast is that the downloads will continue to grow at a rocket speed to exceed 200 billion per year by the end of full year 2017, and revenues in 2017 will reach 63.5 billion USdollars. CONCLUSION The current areas that involve innovative and upcoming technologies include sectors like the Hospitality, Healthcare, Retail, Financial services, Government agencies, Manufacturing, Telecommunication, Logistics and many more to add on. The tremendous potential that the mobile gaming and apps market holds in futures is very promising, with the emerging technologies like ERP/CRM, there is more of scope for virtual reality. The future therefore certainly looks promising for the Mobile application development market and the advances that happen in this technological market never see a slowdown. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. 2. 3. Accenture report on Mobile Web watch 2012. Centre for Technology and Innovation; report on Issues in Technology and Innovation. Mobile Phone Technology: Smarter Than We Thought, How Technology Platforms are Securing Mobile Payments in the U.S, Marianne Crowe and Elisa Tavilla Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, November 16, 2012.
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Journal of Management (JOM) ISSN 2347-3940 (Print), ISSN 2347-3959 (Online), Volume 1, Issue 1, July -December (2013) 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. The European App company, September 2013, sizing European app economy and advocating policy options to drive growth. The 2013 Accenture Consumer Electronics, Products and Services Usage Report. Accenture report 2012, Scenarios for Future Growth in the Cable Industry: What is beyond mobile and multi-screen. ESOMAR Guideline for conducting mobile market research, 2012. Issues in Technological Innovation, How Mobile Devices are Transforming Healthcare, report by Darrell West. Mobile Phone Technology: Smarter Than We Thought, How Technology Platforms are Securing Mobile Payments in the U.S, Marianne Crowe and Elisa Tavilla, Dr. Vinit Dani and Vanishree Pabalkar, Value Added Services Challenges and Opportunities in India, International Journal of Marketing & Human Resource Management (IJMHRM), Volume 4, Issue 1, 2013, pp. 21 - 27, ISSN Print: 0976 6421, ISSN Online: 0976- 643X. Asokan M, Android Vs iOS An Analysis, International Journal of Computer Engineering & Technology (IJCET), Volume 4, Issue 1, 2013, pp. 377 - 382, ISSN Print: 0976 6367, ISSN Online: 0976 6375. G.C.Priya, G.Gayathri and R.Parameswari,, Monitoring System using Smart Phones, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2011, pp. 1 - 8, ISSN Print: 0976 6367, ISSN Online: 0976 6375. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, November, 2012. www.marketresearch.com www.androidcentral.com

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