Chinese mobile app market catches up with US

The Chinese market remains one of the most attractive for developers - a new study from Verto Analytics with the support of iResearch Consulting proves this once again. But despite explosive growth, capturing this market will be difficult due to the specifics of the local audience and many restrictions.

According to Verto Analytics and iResearch Consulting, the number of active Internet users in China is approximately 651.3 million, which is almost 48% of the total number in the world. About 93% of Internet users in China use a PC, and the number of active users of mobile devices is a record 92%. For comparison, in the United States, this figure is only 72%, and taking into account the user base of Chinese people, this is really a record value.

“The purchasing power of Chinese consumers has always remained relatively low. But instead of buying personal computers, residents buy mobile devices, leaving behind all Western countries in terms of the number of active users. In addition, such popular services as Google, Skype, Amazon, LinkedIn and others have not appeared in China due to government regulation, ”Verto Analytics analysts say.

Recent trends in the IT market likewise influence the Chinese desire to acquire new devices, which in turn spurs interest in new applications and services. In total, one user in China owns a 4.1 device with a network connection compared to 4.6 for US residents - this once again proves the huge potential of the local market for those developers who will learn how to monetize local traffic.

Of course, one of the biggest problems remains the low solvency of local residents, but with the right and hard monetization, significant success can be achieved, and the example of the popular WeChat messenger proves this very well. As for user activity, the data is really impressive - there are more than 672 million monthly users of WeChat alone. In 2014, this number was only 396 million, and with such a growth rate, it will soon surpass the mark of 700 million active users.