According to Flurry Analytics, China became this year the country with the largest installed base of connected devices. There are 261,333,271 active smartphones and tablets in China – almost 25% of the entire worldwide mobile devices. Yes, China is the world’s biggest smart device market.
China – world largest base of mobile devices users
A small number of people in China access the web via traditional PCs. Mobile users in China are now using 330 million smartphones – a 150% increase over last year and exceeding the total number of all 321 million mobile phones active in the US – says iiMedia, a Chinese research firm.
eMarketer also estimates there will be 321.9 million smartphone users in China this year. And ex-Google China Chief Lee Kai-fu predicts China will have about 500 million smartphones in use by the end of this year.
Obviously, the mobile app market in China is constantly growing with the rise of smartphone users.
As reported by Flurry, iOS and Android Chinese users devote about half of their app time to games, just like the rest of the world. However, the average time Chinese mobile owners spend using entertainment, news, utility and productivity apps is greater than in other app markets.
According to eMarketer’s findings, Chinese mobile owners are notably more interested in new apps than US users – only 50% of US mobile user search weekly for new apps, while in China 63% of users do so.
Also, Chinese mobile users are very keen to make in-app purchases – 46% of China’s users reported to make in-app purchases, compared with only 37% of US mobile owners.
It’s very possible that by 2015, the number of smartphone users in China will exceed the entire number of mobile users in the US and Europe combined.
China app industry opportunities for mobile developers
China has been ignored for a long time by mobile developers and publishers concerned with issues such as cultural barriers, rampant piracy, monetization difficulties or the existence of way too many app stores.
Today the Chinese app industry is starting to look appealing. The growth opportunities makes app developers determined to navigate the obscurities of the Chinese app market.
Earlier this year, inMobi released a report showing why app developers can no longer ignore China, as it is rapidly growing into a highly lucrative mobile app market.
The report reveals interesting facts about app usage in China:
Chinese users are more willing to pay for content than US users
US users quoted price as a key influencer in their decision to download apps, while Chinese users are not as price sensitive
Chinese users are much keen to explore new apps compared to US users
Due to the enthusiastic consumer base, size and dynamic nature of the Chinese mobile market, a well-executed entry can help publishers grow their app business significantly and reap great rewords.
Take Rovio Entertainment success, for example. China became last year Angry Birds’ biggest market by daily users. Peter Vesterbacka – CMO of Rovio Mobile, declared at last year Slush conference in Helsinki (via Techcrunch): We’re very happy with our business in China. It’s the biggest market for smartphones and where we have the most daily active users. It recently overtook the US in daily usage.
