Revealed: Which nationalities download more apps in the UAE...

United Arab Emirates continued to dominate the app download market in the region with games, social media and music occupying the top three spots.

The second day of ArabNet Digital Summit in Dubai saw industry experts pushing for more engaging and meaningful content even as video, especially Virtual Reality gaining momentum in 2016.

Among the main topics of discussion during the day was about how native advertising is gaining popularity amidst increasing preference for ad blocking.

Also educating the startups was 500 Startups with their day long acceleration programme and how owners could avoid the most common mistakes.

A new report published by ArabNet in coordination with On Device Research pointed out that UAE dominated the region with Arab and Western expats recording the most downloads.

About 51 per cent downloaded more than five apps per month in the UAE, followed by Egypt and Lebanon.

Interestingly, the report also revealed that lower income users downloaded more apps compared to those higher income. The lower two income groups downloaded more apps compared to top three income brackets combined.

Gaming apps continued to dominate with 60 per cent of users followed by 37 per cent social media related apps.

While UAE dominated shopping related apps with Souq, Dubizzle and Namshi leading the race. Also on the list was Tinder.

Video related apps dominated the app profile in Saudi Arabia, with Snapchat, YouTube and video browsers ranking high in the list.

Video content meanwhile is said to dominate the regional market in the coming years.

“Virtual Reality is gaining significant ground. From property to gaming to medical field including news media, the region will see an explosion of VR,” says the head of 360 MEA, a new startup that has already produced 250 videos.

The advertising and publishing industry discussed the Adblocking browsers, which are mobile browsers that block ads by default, account for the majority of mobile adblocking.

The participants also pointed out that ad blocking, however, has still not caught up in a major way in the UAE like it has done in emerging markets such as China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Shael Al Saudi, CEO, Business Development and Strategy at Dubai Economic Department, said Dubai is working towards offering Government as Service.

“The government departments and their heads have been working like race horses. We have limited time and need to deliver. Just like we have software as a service and other similar tech terms, we will soon have Government as a Service,” he said.

Giving examples, he said: “Dubai Now app will soon be able to find a patient visiting a hospital, your nearest available parking slot, and even communicate with the doctor that you would arrive in 3 minutes.”

Meanwhile, the Dubai Health Authority said it is working on a new update to its healthcare app for diabetic patients ahead of Ramadan.

The update will customise the fasting and breaking time for diabetics and introduce several new updates.

Dubai Police, who are also present at ArabNet, said they are working on introducing a major update into their app and would make the announcement in the next two weeks.

 

Source:: Emirates 247

Revealed: Which nationalities download more apps in the UAE...

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