Mobile phone users in the UK spend £422.2m on mobile applications each year, but the most popular apps are those offering money off products and services.

So says handset maker LG, which commissioned research firm Opinion Matters to conduct a survey of 1,010 people between 17 and 24 March. While that figure of £422.2m may look a tad overblown – do we really spend just £80m shy of half a billion pounds on mobile apps each year? – LG says it has been calculated off the back of survey results showing that the average smartphone user spends £3.20 per month on apps, and that there are approximately 11m smartphone users in the UK (which makes the figure, in fact £422.4m). While that 11m smartphone users stat is sourced from the usually-reliable comScore, we suspect there may be some less reliable over-extrapolation going on here.

LG commissioned the survey to celebrate the launch of the LG Optimus Android handset. It found the five most wanted app types are:

1. Apps that save you money (25 per cent)
2. Apps that save you time (9 per cent)
3. Apps that help you stay physically and mentally fit (9 per cent)
4. Apps that help you shop for dinner (8 per cent)
5. Apps for gaming (6 per cent)

The survey also found that, despite the vast number of gaming, entertainment and quirky apps on offer, Brits simply want practical ones, with hugely popular apps such as iPint and iFart rated the most useless.

When asked what sort of apps they would like, responses included apps to help make money, read minds and ones which offered help with cooking, losing weight and dressing fashionably.

“This research has provided us with some very interesting insights into the app likes and dislikes of the nation,” says LG marketing director Paul Trueman. “There is clearly a huge appetite for the continued development of apps and a hunger for even more innovation.

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