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An insatiable appetite for smartphone apps
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IN a world running on ubiquitous Wi-Fi and smartphones, we are all becoming “app-ized.”
China had about 420 million active smartphone app users in the first quarter of this year, according to a report from iiMedia Research released on Monday. That’s more than the entire population of the United States.
“If an app wants to survive in such a fierce battleground, it has to meet the ‘rigid demands’ of users,” says Zhang Yi, principal analyst at iiMedia Research.
A successful app, he says, must be practical, useful and tightly connected with daily life.
“Lifestyle apps make things easier, like financial apps to help users make money and news apps to keep them updated with the world,” Zhang says. “A good app should meet both physical and mental needs.”
There’s no doubt that apps have penetrated daily life, from entertainment and travel to home-delivered services. People are drawn to new apps that are more involved with their changing lifestyles — how they buy cars, search for new homes and even get married.
For example, Shanghai couples can now reserve times to register their marriages through Alipay Wallet, a third-party payment app. The new service was created in conjunction with the Shanghai municipal government and the Alibaba Group as advancement in plans to create a “smart city” through information technology.
A couple can easily reserve a time at their nearest Civil Affairs Bureau after filling in their personal information on the app. In addition, they can see the exact number of people who have also booked the same time to avoid crowds.
Kaolache, a new smartphone app to be launched next month, aims to kick off a revolution in the used-car market.
“It’s quick and simple to find the perfect used car by clicking on a smartphone,” says Ma Sicong, one of the founders of Kaolache. “We help people reduce agents’ fees that could be several thousands of yuan, and we cut through complicated procedures that eat up a lot of time.”
The app claims to be China’s first customer-to-customer, used-car trading platform. It provides a one-stop service that includes a doorstep inspection of a car’s condition by a reputable third party, a one-year warranty and help with paperwork transferring car ownership.
“We want to make this market easier, cheaper and more transparent by eliminating middlemen,” Ma says.
In the real estate sector, HaowuChina is stirring up big changes. The online-to-offline app involves no bricks-and-mortar agencies. It has expanded to 42 mainland cities in just two years.
The app has adopted a marketing model that encourages everyone to become property agents. Those who are successful in finding and recommending clients who buy homes via the platform can earn commissions of up to 3 percent.
“I never expected to make so much money so easily,” says Li Yingying, 28, from the city of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province.
Li runs a small clothing store. She joined the HaowuChina last May as a part-time agent. She has earned 20,375 yuan (US$3,285) from two successful recommendations.
So far, the app has almost 3 million “agents” who have recommend more than 2,000 potential clients to the platform. More than 200 home purchases are clinched every day. The number of “agents” has grown by up to 200,000 people a month, and the app is expanding its reach into the US, Canada, Australia, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus.
The variety and depth of app penetration are a delight for smartphone users.
Wang Bo, 32, who works in an advertising agency, tells Shanghai Daily that she has downloaded almost 100 apps on her iPhone 6.
“Ten are about online shopping and five are different navigators,” she says. “It may sound weird, but they do give me a sense of security.”
That doesn’t mean all apps are successful.
According to iiMedia Research, the average lifetime of an app is about 10 months. About 85 percent users will delete the apps within one month. The highest mortality rate is among social-networking games, at 35 percent.
“People can’t live without apps that become part of their daily lives,” analyst Zhang says. “Social-networking games are not that needed, so they often die quickly.”
One example is How-Old app. It was designed to guess a person’s age from a photo. It went viral overnight online and on WeChat, but the craze died out as quickly as it took off.
In the last five months, the top-ranking apps haven’t changed much. WeChat, QQ, Taobao and Baidu Search head the list of the most popular favorites, followed by Moji Climate, MoMo Chat, Today’s Headlines and Time Clock.
Online-to-offline life apps have the longest shelf lives. According to China’s App Use Trends, accommodation, dining, ticket booking, house cleaning, interior decoration, car services, travel, education, wedding services and health are the most downloaded app categories.
“This year will be a boom time for life apps,” says analyst Zhang. “It will be a year of fast-paced changes for both smartphone users and app developers.”
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