Indian app developers eye the iPad opportunity

Friday, 16 April 2010, 15:16 IST   |    4 Comments
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Indian app developers eye the iPad opportunity
Bangalore: After developing apps that are already a hit on the iPhone, Indian firms are now flexing muscles on Apple's tablet computer too. With global gadget makers such as Google, Apple and Nokia seeking new apps to make their products more popular, these Indian companies could be on the threshold of a billion-dollar business opportunity, reports Anirvan Ghosh of Economic Times. Ever since Apple launched App Store in 2008, more than a billion apps have been downloaded. Following this, Google launched its Android system, and several apps now run on that platform. Nokia did the same with its Ovi store, which has several categories of apps, as has Blackberry. Taken together, the market for apps, across these platforms and Microsoft Windows Mobile, is slated to cross $3 billion by 2012, according to IT research firm Gartner. And it is here that Indian companies are proving their mettle across various platforms, and capturing eyeballs worldwide. For example, it took just three months for Sourcebits to develop an app, commercialising it and earn a lot of money. Popular apps are usually listed in the Top 100 of the Apple App Store and mean around 50 lakh in income, says Rohit Singal, Director, Sourcebits. Now, more players are joining the league as the iPad offers yet another chance to score big. Apple says that around 300,000 iPads have already been sold within days of its launch, and companies like Robosoft and Sourcebits, which have already sold millions of apps, stand to gain similar rewards.

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