Ironically, Iran sanctions result in a roaring $2 billion trade in apps!

Haft-e Sobh [Seven a.m.] newspaper filed a report on Iran’s cellphone apps market on September 15. As simple as they are in design, they rake in amazing profits for their developers, the article said. The translated article is as follows:

Everything started with the childish game of the West when Google and Apple corporations restricted the Iranian users’ access to online app stores under the pretext of sanctions.

When the two tech giants decided to slap restrictions on Iranian users, they probably did not know what a great market they were losing. More intelligent than them were creative Iranian computer programmers who identified a big unrivalled market out there and quickly moved in.

Of course, in Iran the apps trade is still young. However, statistics show that over a short period of time 10 percent of Iran’s Internet bandwidth has been used for selling, buying and installing cell phone applications.

Sanctions slapped by Europe and America pushed European and Asian corporations out of Iran. The decision brought down the curtain on Iran services by some websites, including online app stores of IOS and Android. But creative Iranian computer programmers were swift to design alternative websites like: Cafebazaar, Cando, Mycat, and play-store.ir.

They all pursued one aim: design and supply applications for smart phones such as iPhone and those operating on Android. As a result, Iranian users, who were denied access to application stores thanks to their Iranian IPs, turned to Iranian app stores.

Initially, it was only possible to download the free apps of App Store and Play Store. Iranian websites would download those apps from the main websites and post them on their sites to boost the number of their website visitors.

Nonetheless, it was only the first step to snub the sanctions. Before long, Iranian websites spotted the insatiable appetite of users for apps and Iranian programs. Given the booming cell phone market and the simple design of applications, Iranian programmers decided to take action and design cell phone applications by themselves.

The latest stats suggest that aside from iPhones, there are about four million Android mobile phones in the country. A considerable number of them are continually downloading applications from Internet app stores, that’s why 10 percent of the bandwidth goes to downloading applications.

For instance, the website of Cafebazaar by itself takes up two percent of the bandwidth. Another noticeable thing is the large turnover of the communications and cell phone market which is said to be as much as $4 billion, with the mobile phone market’s share standing at $2 billion. The remaining $2 billion changes hands on communications equipment and software.

As time passed, Apple, Android realized their mistake and were among the first companies which welcomed back the enthusiastic Iranian fans. To get on board the gravy train, some have even struck deals with Iranian companies.