It may well have proved to be a passing fad, like ring-tones at
their height or the Rubik's cube. But it seems Britons can't get
enough of apps for their mobile phones and are downloading more and
more of them.
Kantar's Lightspeed Research has just polled over 1,000
smartphone users and all but 14% of them - that's a whopping 86% -
have bought into the app craze. And most respondents have up to 30
apps downloaded per device.
Only one in ten of us has more than 50 downloads however, which
may suggest a natural ceiling to the number we can contend with.
But the app delivers a consistent appeal across all age groups,
with even the oldest consumers likely to have up to 10 apps
installed.
In terms of device, Android phone users are considerably more
likely to be app-happy then their iPhone counterparts though
interestingly this is reversed for the serious app-arati who have
more than 50 apps on their phones.
Games and social networks dominate the type of apps that most
folk download (at 74% and 71% respectively). But there's some stiff
competition from weather, navigation and news apps too, all of
which are installed by more than 50% of users.
One area showing healthy growth - perhaps reflecting the fact
that people are keeping a close eye on their finances under current
economic conditions - is the banking app: almost a third of
Lightspeed's sample have their bank's app installed for quick
access to accounts and balances.
The gender split on apps also throws up a couple of surprises.
Men predictably dominate the sports app with 46% having installed
one (compared to only 19% of women), but at 76%, more women than
men (at 73%) have installed games apps. And who'd have
thought nearly half of the men surveyed - 47% to be precise - would
have downloaded a shopping app? Or admit to it?!
Source: Lightspeed Research