LIVE FROM APPS WORLD LONDON: GP Singh, director of Group Strategy for SingTel, noted the differences in app preferences between emerging markets and developed territories, which is set to continue “at least for some time, until the trend normalises.”

He said: “The applications that will probably be used in markets like India and Indonesia are looking very, very different from those that will be used in developed markets.  When you look at developing markets, essentially applications that edge closer and closer to core communications will do best, so anything that substitutes your SMS use or your voice use, or facilitates it through multi-party calls, will do really well. Whereas in developed markets, it is more about media, it is about consumption of content.”

Singh also highlighted the importance of search in the mobile content industry. “Search has been the key driver of growth in the internet, and search is becoming the key driver for the growth of mobile internet and mobile applications. But there is a unique characteristic of this search: this search on the mobile is more and more hyperlocal.”

In addition, the different device mix in emerging markets was discussed. “Even though smartphone numbers will grow, even three years from now in developing markets at least, five-to-one will be the ratio of feature phones to smartphones. It is really easy to think about quickly getting onto iPhone or Android, but we shouldn’t be ignoring the feature phone – that’s really critical, and it’s something we are really conscious of,” the SingTel executive said.