Research commissioned by moneysupermarket.com and carried out by Opinium Research reveals that the average application downloader has downloaded nine apps in the past 12 months and spent an average of 9 on them in total.
Opinium polled 2,008 British adults online between Friday 21 andTuesday 25 August 2009.43% of respondents said they would consider switching, or have recently switched their mobile to an iPhone or other Smartphone specifically to get access to apps. The app culture is particularly popular with the under-20s, where the figure rises to 70%. 6% of respondents said that having a handset that can download apps is the most important consideration when buying a phone, ahead of the cost or the number of minutes and texts included in the deal.
Not everyone is in favour of the new app culture, however, as 31% of respondents said they believed that apps are gimmicks, 21% said they are for show-offs and 17% said that apps are for tech geeks.
The iPhone has led the way in the Smartphone market since its launch and the advent of apps has really added fuel to the fire, says James Parker, Manager of Mobiles at moneysupermarket.com said. Apps are already extremely popular, but it seems plenty more people will consider switching to a Smartphone in order to be part of the latest mobile phenomenon.