The apps race has just begun

A consumer uses a smartphone in Dubai Global mobile phone manufacturers are not conceding defeat just yet to Apple\'s dominant lead in the growing multi-billion dollar apps market. In an industry

that operates on communications travelling at the speed of light, competing manufacturers counter the apps race is far from over.
In a rare gathering of big brand name phone makers on the same stage at Planet of the Apps Arabia 2011 apps conference in Dubai, phone executives were pressed by delegates as to why they don\'t simply team up to create an amalgamated apps store to take on Apple\'s iTunes Apps Store as a united front.
In January, Apple said its Apps Store had recorded ten billion downloads of its 200,000 apps, making it the undisputed leader in an apps industry that it radically accelerated with the release of its first iPhone in 2007.
According to IDC\'s Worldwide Smartphone 2011-2015 Forecast and Analysis, Apple shipped a total of 47.5 million smartphones last year, only half of world phone giant Nokia\'s smartphone shipments of 100.1 million smartphones.

Early in the game
Tom Farrell, general manager Nokia Corporation Lower Gulf, refused to accept the premise offered by several delegates in the audience that Apple has left its competitors so far behind in the apps race, they will never catch up.
\"It\'s such early days,\" Farrell said, pointing out that Nokia\'s OVI apps store \"is doing five million downloads a day, three million in MENA…it\'s a marathon, not a sprint.\"
Farrell was quick to point out that Nokia has made apps downloadable and usable across its complete line of 75 devices, not just smartphones — in the Middle East, 52 Nokia devices are app-compliant. The inclusive philosophy, he said, will carry Nokia well into the future after its new association with Microsoft.
\"Apps for everyone is our approach and we can do it across all price points,\" he said.
Sanyu Kiruluta, team lead developer relations EMEA for BlackBerry, said \"this is just the beginning of the eco-system exploding.\"
Apple is not the ultimate victor because it\'s too early in the game to say who will have the stamina and innovation for the endurance needed in the long run.

Premature
\"I think saying one platform has won already is a little premature,\" Sanyu said. \"We have so much time to actually win.\"
Sanyu said things have changed in the internet world in recent years with rapid advancements by some preferred platforms by users the world over. When one looks at \"social networking three years ago, everyone had to be on Myspace. All of a sudden, Facebook came up.
\"Deciding who is the winner — it\'s a fool\'s game. We all need to focus on what we do really well.\"
Dr Manfred Bortenschlager, engineering manager mobile apps for Samsung Electronics, said he doesn\'t envision commercial companies, which normally compete against each other on a global scale, pooling their efforts to take a collective bite out of the giant Apple.
\"On our level, I think it would be a complete challenge,\" he said.
Government workers to help app developers
TRA is eager to establish environment and tools to create them
Dubai: Government regulators and telecoms in the UAE and Saudi Arabia say they\'re doing all they can to help developers create a strong apps industry in the Middle East.
Mohammad Nasser Al Ganem, director-general of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, told delegates at the apps conference at the One and Only Royal Mirage in Dubai that the TRA is standing by to help.
\"TRA is eager to provide the appropriate environment for developers to find all the required tools to create these applications,\" said Al Ganem. \"Early in our planning process, we adopted a clear strategy to encourage and support developers in the area.
\"The UAE government follows a mandate to establish a strong and state-of-art infrastructure, issues the type of regulations that allow business to flourish and ensure that competition and transparency are well applied in the market.\"
Al Ganem said that the TRA has created a special ICT project fund to help support new ideas that will better the industry in the UAE. Data shows that funds awarded are a good investment.
Al Ganem said that 40 per cent of smartphone users in the UAE \"use about six to ten apps in their every day lives. This shows how much people are connected to their phones.\"
In a keynote speech at the conference, Raghu Venkataraman, chief strategy and investments officer du, said the telecom industry is well aware \"of the digital opportunity in the region. It\'s all good, the opportunity is there, the growth is there.\"
He said du is working to create the best support to help developers.
On a personal level, he said he has caught the app bug. \"I\'ve gone app crazy since I bought my first iPhone,\" Venkataraman said. \"I did some counting, I have about 400 apps,\" he said.
A recent app added by Mobily for its consumers, for example, allows consumers to easily transfer phone credit to a friend or family member simply by opening the app, entering the person\'s phone number, the amount of credit and tapping send.

From : Gulf News