Revenue from paid apps to grow, say experts

The number of app developers also to increase rapidly

The revenue from paid apps is expected to grow to over Rs 1,500 crore over the next two or three years, as against Rs 900 crore in 2014, as the number of app developers in the country is expected to go up, say industry representatives.

Announcing the launch of Global Mobile App Summit and Awards (GMASA), a summit on mobile applications to discuss and showcase the latest developments in app development and its marketing, along with related opportunities, the event organisers said that the country is seeing an increase in the number of app developers, and has a potential to bring in the next major app in the world.

Quoting a Deloitte report published earlier, the organisers said that mobile app downloads are likely to be around nine billion during 2015 in India and it would increase in future, as the average data usage per subscriber in the country is expected to double by 2016. The number of smartphones crossing 200 million by 2016, said L Hemachandran, co-founder and CEO of Brand Avatar, which is one of the partners in organising the event.

There is a huge opportunity for investors in the growing mobile app industry and most of the business-to-business opportunities in it remain untapped, which excites an investor, said Sameer Mehta, who is an angel investor, part of The Chennai Angels.

The number of app developers in the country, which was around 300,000 last year, is likely to increase and the country may have the largest base of developers by 2017. Experts from various parts of the world would discuss the current scenario and future of the industry in the Summit, said the organisers.

The event would look into various aspects related to the app development and marketing, said C R Venkatesh, managing director and CEO of Dot Com Infoway, who is also the president of GMASA. The event is expected to take place in Chennai on May 28 and 29, 2015.