Mobile has transformed Internet usage in the emerging markets. Data from global real estate portal Lamudi demonstrates the number of mobile visits to the property platform grew by an average of 32.17 percent globally between 2014 and 2015.

 

According to Lamudi, which celebrated its second anniversary last month, the company’s operations in Pakistan saw the biggest growth in website visits from mobile devices, registering an increase of 45.56 percent over the year. Over the past 12 months, the use of Android devices in Asia has nearly doubled. Globally, 80 percent of Lamudi app users are on Android.

 

Today, mobile is driving innovation around the globe. In the first quarter of 2015, Gartner data revealed the fastest growing regions for smartphone sales worldwide were emerging Asia/Pacific, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, with local brands appearing as the leaders in emerging markets.

 

Saad Arshed, co-founder and managing director of Lamudi Global, commented: “’In the last two years, one of the biggest trends we have seen is the shift from desktop to mobile. The emerging markets have seen strong progress in mobile development. Because of this, consumers are moving straight to smartphones, tablets and apps, skipping desktops altogether.”

 

As a result of high costs of Internet services in many emerging markets, apps are increasingly popular when it comes to interacting with online companies. Apps are much more cost-effective than browsing the Web. The Internet Society’s 2015 Global Internet Report tells us that more than 80 percent of mobile online time is spent on apps, as opposed to browser.

 

Data from Lamudi Pakistan shows that app traffic in the country is increasing; the nation is embracing mobile as a result of decreasing device prices, inexpensive SIM cards and more affordable data packages.