Smartphone users in Tier-II cities like Warangal, Vishakhapatnam, Vijaywada and Nellore have left most of the country’s metros behind when it comes to demand for apps.
According to figures given by Google, over the past four years more and more people in Tier-II cities have been shifting to smartphones.
They are increasingly searching for apps online in view of the fast-dropping data access rates.
The figures show that between September 2011 and September 2012, seven of the top 10 searched keywords in Google contain the word ‘apps’ and while cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad still lead the list, cities like Vellore, Coimbatore, Erode and Madurai have left other metros like Kolkata behind.
State-wise, Andhra Pradesh has taken the lead in 2011- 2012 with Hyderabad and other cities in the state leaving even the national capital Delhi behind.
According to Google, in 2008, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were leading in searches for apps online.
However, in the past few years other states like Jammu and Kashmir, Maharastra and Gujarat have also joined the list.
“While the personal technology space was about buying the right gadget, today it has become more about the content on the gadget.
Apps, with their wide range, are clearly the preferred search choice for consumers today,” said a Google employee.
With smartphones bombarding the market, more people are owning them and the first thing they do is search for apps to install on their phones.
For phones that run Google Android and the iPhone’s IOS, there are more than 1 million apps available for download in each phone maker’s app store.
This huge cache of apps for every occasion, along with a desire to connect to the world on-the-go, seems to be fuelling people’s desire to download more apps.