MEF Blog

Here, Remco van den Elzen, Co-founder at Distimo, a strategic MEF partner, discusses the launch of a new report on Emerging Markets:

It is our pleasure to announce the publication of our report on the Emerging Markets, available exclusively for MEF members. The report is published as part of the strategic partnership between Distimo and the Mobile Entertainment Forum.

Distimo is all about mobile app store content and analytics, and Mobile Entertainment Forum has a strong history of driving mobile content adoption. We believe this equates to a great strategic partnership for both organisations.

This report reveals new insights into the Apple App Stores of Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The major findings are:

* The most popular applications are priced higher in the Emerging Markets than in the United States. Average prices have decreased in both regions however, since December 1, 2009.

* Applications in the Navigation and Medical categories are most expensive in the Emerging Markets, the same as they are in the United States. The average price of the most popular applications in the Finance, Medical, Navigation and Reference categories is higher however, in the Emerging Markets than in the United States due to a multitude of expensive applications that are only popular in the Emerging Markets.

* Games are more popular in the United States than in the Emerging Markets: 56% of the most popular applications in the United States are games, compared to only 29% in the Emerging Markets. The difference is even larger when it comes to revenue generation: 54% of the highest grossing applications in the United States are games compared to only 17% in the Emerging Markets.

* Instant messaging (IM) applications are among the most popular applications in the Emerging Markets of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Examples include WhatsApp Messenger, Live Messenger and Easy IM Free.

The full report is available exclusively to all MEF members.