The Nokia App Summit 2012 – which brought together the local app developers’ community – is another initiative by the mobile phone giant to expand its presence in the hyper-competitive Pakistani market.
Nokia’s optimism is driven by a recent surge in the number of downloads of local apps from its official app store.
In 2010, only 50,000 apps were downloaded in Pakistan from the Nokia App Store every week; the same number has surpassed 2 million as of today, according to officials. Nokia engaged 50 local developers in the beginning, while today it has 350 committed app developers, generating local content, including religious and gaming apps like Cricket Companion, Ludo, Carrom etc.
“Pakistan has huge scope for generation of local content” was the main point put across by most speakers in the inaugural session that kicked off in a local hotel on Monday.
The two-day event features a conference, a developers’ workshop and an app exhibition. Participants of the conference shared their views on trends and the future of mobile app technology. The panel discussions and presentations mainly focused on app monetisation trends and areas to be focused on for generating local content.
With consistent delays in 3G licencing, and a small community of smartphone users, it is no wonder why Nokia is hell-bent on tailor-made apps for its Series 40 low- to mid-tier mobile phones.
“Our interest is to ensure maximum generation of local content for Series 40 devices, which account for 40% of our sales,” Nokia Pakistan and Afghanistan Head of PR and Communications Adeel Hashmi said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2012.
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