Mobile Market Country Profile: Germany A Maturing App Superpower

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The mobile market in Germany is in the middle of a consumer behavior shift. Smartphone penetration and app usage have entered the mainstream and digital content consumption on mobile is on the rise, but app payment remains niche. Consumers switching from traditional phone calls and texting to internet voice communication and messaging contribute to the fact that effective monetization of mobile data will be an ever more important revenue driver in German Mobile Network Operator (MNO) strategy. MNOs have an opportunity to play a key role in the future adoption of app spending too, for example via In App Purchase (IAP) credit bundles. Although such involvement will result in higher app spender penetration, stakeholders will risk devaluing in-app products as a result of too much ‘feels like free’ availability.

Key Findings:

       of the German population own a smartphone, but only        use apps
• At        million, Germany has largest number of smartphone connections in Europe
• At        million in 2014, Germany is also the largest mobile app revenue market in Europe
• App payment remains niche with only        of German consumers paying for downloads or in-app purchases
       of German app buyers are aged under        and        are male, pointing to the early adopter stages of the sector
• German Mobile operators have cumulative access to        million billing subscribers, representing        of the population, giving carrier billing the widest potential reach for mobile content payment
• Effective mobile data monetization will be a key revenue driver for mobile operators in the future
• Mobile operators have the opportunity to help in-app purchasing towards the mass market by bundling in-app credit with phone tariffs
• Android’s market share lead in Germany is well above the all-country average 
       of iOS consumers in Germany pay for downloads or in-app purchases, compared to only        of Android consumers

Companies mentioned in this report: T-Mobile, Telefonica, Vodafone, Telekom Deutschland, Telefonica        Apple, Google, uTorrent