If you answered “water,” congratulations – you’re in the majority!
In a recent study by Apigee, an astounding 85% of respondents from a variety of countries said they would rather give up water than mobile apps. Putting aside the fact that some people may have been exaggerating, and putting aside the delicious array of non-water beverages there are to drink, this statistic is still pretty incredible.
Some other food for thought from the study: 82% of respondents said that they couldn’t go a day without using an app. What are examples of these critical apps that people can’t go a day without? Email and social media, as you might have guessed, but also the ultimate practical app: an alarm clock app. Other functions that people now report they cannot perform without an app are navigating to work, finding dates, ordering dinner, and, oddly enough, “impressing people.”
But with all these functions, people still can’t get enough! People continue to dream up new uses for their devices. Among them are:
• “Reality control” over things like lighting, A/C, and door locks (46%)
• Tracking energy use (38%)
• Remote car starting (34%)
• Making purchases tagged to the their mobile device bill (21%)
All of this information indicates that mobile dependence is high and increasing. Interestingly, it also shows that people are happy with this trend and are excitedly anticipating that it will expand. While some dependencies or tech trends might be headed upward, not all are looked on favorably. For industry players, however, seeing not only this increasing dependency on mobile devices, but also an enjoyment thereof, is a great sign of the coming opportunities in the mobile sector.
These opportunities vary widely. Apps, of course, are still hot despite there being hundreds of thousands of them. Almost everything we do now has an app to go with it. In addition, functions that were once performed by other technologies may shift toward apps (for example, Ernst & Young is reporting that SMS messaging is largely being replaced by instant messaging apps).
But the opportunities don’t stop at developing apps. Mobile device accessories are needed, reviews and tutorials to help users make the most of their devices are needed, heck, even mobile developers themselves are an entire secondary market to serve with solutions as thousands chase the dream of producing a top-selling app.
Keep your eyes peeled for mobile opportunities – it appears that the saturation point of this market is still quite far off.
