Since Apple raised the profile of mobile phone apps two years ago, it appears smartphone owners are downloading more apps onto their devices than ever before.

According to a new survey by Nielsen of more than 4,000 smartphone users who have downloaded at least one app in the past 30 days, the average number of apps they have on their mobile phones has increased to 27 by August 2010, from 22 last December.

Apple’s iPhone users significantly tops the list with an average of 40 Apps on their device.  Android and Blackberry owners’ app usage has also steadily increased to 25 apps and 14 apps, respectively, from 22 apps and 10 apps last December.

Nielsen said games are still the most popular category of downloads, but weather, maps/navigation and social networking apps are also becoming significant categories. Facebook is the most popular individual app across all platforms according to Nielsen. (Nielsen release)

However, before  joining the app frenzy organisations should consider the basics – ‘WHY’ and ‘WHAT’.  Only then should they start to think about the ‘HOW’. Organisations need to stop thinking tactically, not be drawn in by the hype, media, technology buzz surrounding mobile.

We see so many organisations investing in mobile without really understanding what they are getting themselves into. Many are spending large sums of money and sadly will likely see very little return (or even worse create negative brand perception amongst consumers). Why?  They are delivering tactical solutions – failing to recognise the addressable market, the mobile environment, understand the ongoing costs of their decisions, falling short of consumer expectations, led by people who are not acting in their best interests.

At Indigo 102 we specialising in bringing out the realities – communicate the benefits and risks – at the early stages. We work with organisations to build mobile strategies that deliver value over time and develop services that are sustainable. If we can support you to invest wisely and establish a sustainable mobile platform get in touch (martin@indigo102.com).

(Follow us on twitter : @indigo102)

Apple has announced that its App Store has now generated more than three billion downloads. News flying around about the partnership of Comscore and Flurry has brought something quite alarming into the open; iPhone and Android Applications for many organisations actually today represent a very poor investment.

Why? Retention of users to iPhone and Android applications appears to be far worse than many would expect – many seemingly don’t get far past the 30 day or one month mark. In the stats published by Flurry, after 2 months an average of just 32% of applications are still being used, after 3 months just 25%. The worst performing category is listed as ‘lifestyle’ with a retention rate of just 5% after 3 months. (See table below).

This really should not be the case. It raises some serious issues. Clearly many are failing to recognise the ‘mobile’ element of the service offering; understand the core principles of mobile and dynamics of digital. Services are being brought to the market with no strategic view towards evolution and ongoing consumer engagement.

For the organisations that we support this level of consumer retention would simply not be acceptable. Organisations typically spending 000′s of dollars on services wish to see a level of return on their investment. For most these returns will not be delivered in days, but weeks and years. Many want to establish sustainable business models, not here today gone tomorrow plays.

Flurry collects mobile application data from approximately two out of every three iPhone and Android devices. Each month, the company aggregates application usage data from over 1 billion end-user sessions across more than 50 million unique handsets from more than 200 countries. Over 10,000 developers have chosen to integrate Flurry Analytics within their applications.

A releated post: Mobile strategy – iPhone should factor but certainly not dominate.