Bharti says Airtel App Central records over 2.5 million downloads in just 30 days
20 Mar 2010
New Delhi : Telecom services provider Bharti Airtel says it has recorded 2.5 million plus downloads within 30 days of the launch of its Airtel App Central, the country's first mobile application store.
Airtel mobile customers in smaller cities like Surat, Pune and Udaipur and with basic phones priced less than Rs5,000 led in the number of downloads, leading to 1 App per second downloaded over the last 30 days. Social networking and Utility Apps ranked highest on the popularity charts.
The 2.5 million plus downloads from Airtel App Central have also indicated that the Indian mobile applications model will be different from the global model.
Occupying an average of not more than 2 per cent space per App on the customer's handset, downloads from Airtel App Central are being led by feature phones and not smart phones. While 25 per cent of the Apps are free to download, the Top 5 popular Apps are subscription based.
According to Atul Bindal, president, mobile services, Bharti Airtel said, ''When we opened the doors to Airtel App Central, India's first mobile application store, we were confident that we had a strong and relevant offer. Our customers have confidently walked in, sampled and purchased applications, which have since made their mobile phones smarter and enriched their lives with added entertainment or networking or productivity.''
The Airtel App Central has now over 1500 apps available for download across 550+ devices categorized under 25 customer categories.
Apps are available for as low as Rs1 per day with options to pay on a weekly, monthly or one-time basis. All apps are scanned for viruses and checked for handset compatibility before making them available for customer download, Bharti said.
Top 5 cities which fuelled download top 5 popular categories are:
1. Surat 1. Social Networking
2. Udaipur 2. Lifestyle
3. Pune 3. Books
4. Mangalore 4. Entertainment
5. Thiruvanathapuram 5. Games
