Hot Indian mobile app market attracts foreign players

The mobile app market is growing fast, and India’s is no different. More and more Indians are using their mobile phones, boosting app usage to a mind-blowing number. The market is attracting many foreign players.

According to Statista, total app market revenues for 2022 reached US$475.90 billion, and they expect to see an annual growth (CAGR 2022-2027) of 8.58%, resulting in a market volume of US$755.50bn by 2027.

Read more: Microchip extends its radiation-tolerant family of gigabit Ethernet

In March 2023 alone, 39% of apps by Indian publishers in India were using ads to monetise their platforms. Additionally, more than a half of all mobile sales in India are made through mobile phones leading to an increase in the number of mobile sales by more than 10% in H1 2023 YoY.

Figures from Statista show that more than 158,000 apps by Indian app developers have been published on Google Play in 2023 already, and this figure is set to grow. This growth is attracting foreign players, who seek a slice of the Indian mobile app market.

July saw a tie up between Vi, an Indian telecom service provider, and Truecaller, the global communications platform.

Now, WiFi Map, a US-based Decentralized Wireless (DeWi) company, announced that India has become its second-largest global market, only after Indonesia, witnessing a monumental surge of 12 million app downloads. This robust growth is reflective of the growing DeWi community and the swift adoption of web3-based services in the region.

India’s demographic transition is naturally capable of driving mass adoption of consumer technology, and we are elated to facilitate this growth by providing decentralized wireless internet to millions of users across the country

Denis Sklyarov, CEO of WiFi Map

Denis Sklyarov, CEO of WiFi Map, said “India’s demographic transition is naturally capable of driving mass adoption of consumer technology, and we are elated to facilitate this growth by providing decentralized wireless internet to millions of users across the country. The positive data trends in India have encouraged us to recruit local talent, thereby catalyzing user growth and shaping the existing community into a powerful driver for DeWi adoption.”

In July, Mitgo, a global IT/MarTech company launched Mombio, a specialized mobile app user acquisition and CPI/CPL/CPA/Revenue share monetisation services platform in India. Mobmio is a new mobile performance network with ambitious plans for the Indian mobile app market.

Read more: IAMAI members flag concerns regarding ex-ante regulations

Also, existing foreign players are facing rivalry from ambitious local players. In April, Walmart backed Indian fintech giant PhonePe announced launching a dedicated app store for Android users in India, challenging Google.

A Broadband India Forum (BIF) study predicted that India’s app market will touch US$800 million. The study reveals that the the growth in the Indian app economy is about 32%, which is more than four times the GDP growth.