Desi mobile application stores, soon.
Leading mobile phone manufacturers like Nokia, Apple and Research in Motion (RIM) are in the process of rolling out localised versions of their application stores in India. These vendors are also betting big on Indian developers to set up a mobile phone apps development ecosystem in the country.
Vendors feel apps will be the next big revenue opportunity for them in India, after US and Europe. The desi version will have a slew of apps which are customised for the Indian market. ‘Application store’ in industry parlance is all about mobile phone apps which consumers can buy and download on their handsets.
Nokia, which recently debuted its global app store christened ‘Ovi Store’ in India, plans to roll out the localised version by December. While initially Ovi Store will be available in smartphones loaded with the Symbian S60 operating system, Nokia will enable the app store in phones across its portfolio by early 2010.
“We are currently tying up with Indian developers to roll out local applications. The idea is to create a business model for apps in India so that the developers too can monetise their work,” Nokia India director (marketing) Vineet Taneja told ET.
The Finnish mobile phone giant is looking at Indian apps in areas like location-based services (both GPS and cellphone tower based), music, entertainment, business to even utilities. “The Ovi Store will offer a platform and billing mechanism to the developers. Billing through operators will be a crucial channel to drive revenue in India,” said Mr Taneja.
RIM, the makers of BlackBerry smartphones, is also gearing up to roll out its ‘BlackBerry App World’ in India. The company’s app store is currently available only in North America and Europe. Apart from using its internal expertise, RIM is eyeing Indian third-party developers for such apps.
