With a smartphone penetration rate of just 45%, it would be all too easy for app developers to put Mexico on the back-burner and concentrate on more buoyant global markets. However, drill a little deeper into the Mexican market and you’ll discover that it is a real Latin American powerhouse and a real economy of scale.
With a population of more than 130 millionpeople (it’s the 11th most populated country in the world), Mexicohas some 59.5 million smartphone users. That’s 4.8 million more than the UnitedKingdom (with an 88% penetration rate), 10 million more than France (76%), and25.9 million more than Spain (72.5%). In fact, countries like Canada, with 26.6million smartphone owners, and Australia, with 17 million, look positively minusculewhen compared the potential of the Mexican market.
And the Mexican market is growing, withanalysts expecting to see upwards of 19 million more smartphone owners in theregion by 2023.
The fact is Mexico doesn’t only comparewell to the comparative BRICS emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, andChina, and South Africa), it pretty much competes on a level playing field withmany other advanced economies.
FurtherReading: Brazil:The App Economy is About to Explode
AYoung Market
The Mexican market is relatively young,with the median age of its citizens around 27 years. This compares with 37.8years in the United States and a positively ancient 40 years in the UK. Withyouth on its side digital and, mobile technologies stand a far greater chanceof deeper market penetration.
FurtherReading: GenZ – Will the Smartphone Generation Change the Way We Work
Further Reading: AppUsage through the Ages – Targeting Older, More Lucrative Users
The Advantageof Speaking Spanish
Developers looking at the Mexican market cannotignore the huge advantage offered by the fact it is a Spanish speaking country.Spanish is the second most popular language on the planet with more than 400million native speakers. As such, app developers looking to localize and rollout apps across multiple countries will find it much easier than apps developedfor smaller language markets.
Note: English might be considered the lingua franca of travel, business,and international relations but if you want to do business on a local level,you've really got to speak the local language. Spanish is a great startingpoint.
AndroidDominates Mexican Market
As is common in other Latin Americanmarkets, the Android operating system completely dominates the Mexican marketwith 91% of smartphone users using Google’s operating system. This compares to47% in the US market where iOS and Android compete on a more even keel formarket dominance.
Entry-level Samsung devices also top thelist of the most popular smartphones in the region with the J2 and Grand Primemodels being particularly common. Motorola and Huawei devices have also madesignificant inroads into the Mexican market.
Further Reading: BRICS: A Smart Future Built on Affordable Devices
TopApps – Go Lite
Communication and social media apps top thelist of priorities for Mexican smartphone users with WhatsApp and SnapChatcurrently topping the local Google Play charts.
The challenges of a market dominated bylow-spec devices is also apparent with “lite” versions of Facebook andMessenger joining their full-spec equivalents in the top ten.
Further Reading: Great Apps Come In Small Packages
Facebookand Google Apps Crowd the Market
It’s interesting to note that every appcurrently sitting in the top ten of Mexico’s Google Play charts is owned byeither Facebook or Google. Look a little deeper into the charts and it’s clearthey also dominate much of the country’s top 50. This represents a significantchallenge for competitive app developers.
Limited space on devices(along with expensive mobiledata-plans and limited access to wi-fi which are common in many emergingeconomies) may dissuade smartphone users from exploring the app marketplacesand downloading new apps to their devices. When this happens, pre-loading maybe the only opportunity app developers have to compete with “essential” bigbrand apps.
FurtherReading: HowPre-Loading Apps Can Help Developers Circumnavigate Fraud
Contact Digital Turbine
When exploring the potential in any market, it's always best to seek the advice of local experts. As a global technology company, Digital Turbine has feet on the ground in the Mexican market, ensuring the best possible insight into the latest trends and access to the widest range of partners, including leading smartphone manufacturers and mobile networks.
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