While gaming is the most popular category, consumers in various APAC markets are showing a keen appetite for other types of apps, according to a new Mobile World Live video.

As expected, there are differences in app preference which reflect the vastly different customer bases across various markets. Sandy Shen, research director for Gartner, noted: “if you look at Japan and South Korea, those markets seem to be more interested in those entertainment-oriented, like music, TV, those sorts of things.  For other markets like Hong Kong, Singapore, or Australia, those markets seem to be more focused on social networking and also productivity kind of apps, such as location based navigation or mobile e-mail and browsing.”

Jason Chiu, CEO of developer Cherrypicks, also noted different appetites in the less developed markets in the region. “You would have lighter apps, as most of the smartphone devices are still entering the market…so in this case more practical apps, communications related apps and messaging related apps would tend to fly better.”

With regard to games, casual titles dominate in the region. Eberhard Schoneburg, CEO of Artificial Life, noted: “People don’t have the nerves, the times, the attitude to play complicated games, even though they might look very good… the trend is and if you look at the market, you know 98 percent of the games are very, very simple.”

View the video here.