Samsung shares exclusive insights into mobile app market

Samsung shares exclusive insights into mobile app market

Recent research highlights unmet needs of consumers, soon to be fulfilled through the launch of Samsung bada

Seoul, Korea, December 3, 2009 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today unveiled the results of an exclusive new survey into consumers’ mobile software demands, providing unique insights into the opportunities available for the growing developer community across the world.

The survey results were found to be extremely encouraging for those developers currently creating apps for the mobile market, as this was identified as the greatest opportunity for new development. Almost half (42%) of current feature phone users surveyed would pay to download applications if they could – and 54% of those people would be prepared to pay up to €5 for each application they download, illustrating the scale of the potential revenues available for developers by extending application-downloadable smartphone markets.

The research comes ahead of the worldwide launch of Samsung’s new bada platform, which is set to open up millions of mainstream handsets worldwide to the new possibilities of applications. The consumer survey was based on responses from UK, France and Italy –three of Europe’s biggest mobile markets where Samsung currently offers apps through its Samsung Apps.

The research also highlighted the types of applications which are particularly sought after by those consumers who have no previous experience of downloading them – and therefore the people who present the biggest potential revenue opportunity for developers at the moment. The study shows that among users of mainstream handsets who have not downloaded an application before, travel and navigation applications were most in demand with 34% of people surveyed eager to use them, followed by photography (12%), work (11%) and shopping (9%).

“Our findings show the vast potential of the applications market and the huge untapped revenues, driven by high levels of consumer demand,” said Dr Hosoo Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of the Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics.

Dr Lee added, “Through the launch of bada, Samsung’s open mobile platform, we aim to help developers to capitalise on this exciting market opportunity. The aim of the bada platform is to make smartphone features accessible to everyone, so that developers can reach larger audiences and the variety and creativity of apps can be enjoyed by many. We want consumers to have a fun and diverse mobile experience that really adds value to their lives, by providing them with high-quality applications and mobile services.”

Further findings illustrate where the market opportunity lies for different types of applications among current smartphone users, and indicate the areas where developers could reap the benefits and discover new revenues.

Overall, women were found to be highly attracted to certain types of applications. Gaming applications are ranked more popular among women than men, with 70% of women surveyed saying they use them, as opposed to 57% of men. Women also value photography applications highly, with just under half saying that they use them to help in their everyday lives (49%). Nearly six out of ten women (57%) said that they use apps to enrich their family life, illustrating that demand for apps designed for parents has overtaken those for social networking (which received just 39% of responses).

Education is also an area with huge potential for growth within the application market. When asked what pps they would like to see developed, the highest number of respondents (18%) said they would like new education apps, as they feel that there isn’t a suitable solution available for them at the present time. The figures also show that there are more opportunities for developers in the work and travel related apps arena. These were rated second and third by consumers disappointed that the right app is not available yet (17% and 13% respectively).

In addition, the findings raised the issue of the longevity of apps among smartphone users. 43% of app users said that once they have downloaded an app they quickly lose interest and cease using it, leaving almost half of apps redundant within a relatively short space of time. “This shows that the market is still in its infancy,” said Dr Hosoo Lee. “There’s a clear gap in the market for ‘killer’ apps which can enrich people’s mobile phone lives, and we believe that bada will be the platform to supply these apps.”

Samsung hosts an event in London on Dec. 8^th to provide more information on bada, its new smartphone platform. More information on the bada platform is currently available at www.bada.com.

About the research

The questionnaire was conducted on behalf of Samsung by Vanson Bourne. Responses incorporated the views of 500 male and female participants of different ages based in Italy, France and the UK.

About Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2008 consolidated sales of US$96 billion. Employing approximately 164,600 people in 179 offices across 61 countries, the company consists of two business units: Digital Media & Communications and Device Solutions. Recognized as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, memory chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com

A glimpse at Samsung bada

Samsung bada is a fully-fledged smartphone platform, created for application deployment across a range of devices. In this posting, we’ll explain the important architectural features you will need to know to get the most out of bada.

Samsung bada can be best understood by examining its architecture, which is made up of these four layers:

• The kernel layer, which can be based on a real-time OS or Linux kernel, depending on hardware configuration
• The device layer, which provides the core functions as a device platform such as system and security management, graphics and window system, data protocols and telephony, audio-visual and multimedia management, and so on.
• The service layer, which provides service-centric functions that are provided by application engines – such as messaging and contact management – and web-service components interconnecting with bada Server
• Only the framework layercan export standard open APIs in C++, and it consists of application framework and functions exported by underlying layers. Using this layer, you are able to create innovative applications on the bada platform!

The future of innovation

Samsung bada is a complete smartphone platform, able to run high-performance native apps, and services. The bada platform has been designed from the ground up to the needs of the user by delivering the best possible platform for innovation for the developer.

This is just the beginning of the evolution of this new platform. We will continually adapt and improve this platform to better meet the needs of both developers and smartphone users.

With bada, your innovation can create the future user experience. Keep checking the blog for more detailed information, which will be available soon.

bada : the launch ceremony

We are very excited to talk about the upcoming bada launch ceremony; the debut of Samsung bada, scheduled to be held at Central London in early December. We have prepared two sessions for the launching event: one for journalists and the other for early stage bada partners.

Let us give you a taste of our distinguished list of attendees: major game companies, one of the most popular SNS companies, and a powerful media company. The representative directors and VPs of each company are planning to share their experiences with bada and to showcase their products based on bada.

Along with the partner presentations, details of bada platform and highlights of the key features will be introduced by a principal engineer from bada development team. The strategy of devices, application store and partnerships & alliances will also be announced.

We know that many of you are eager to get more information on bada. Please be patient. More helpful information will be announced at the launching event.

Be prepared, the adventure starts soon!