Mobile App Downloads to Top 182.7 Billion in 2015, IDC Says

A new report coming from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that the total mobile app downloads are set to increase to as much as 182.7 billion in 2015, up from the 10.7 billion they topped in 2010.

Moreover, research firm notes that app developers will shift their interest towards the inclusion of in-app purchasing capabilities with their software.

Apparently, the mobile app industry will move from the current reliance upon initial app download purchases towards in-app purchasing as the main way to fund business models.

In the free app category, the shift is already visible, since users are offered the possibility to buy a more feature-packed flavor of the software so as to benefit from additional capabilities, the research firm explains.

“In this instance, the mobile apps space is largely emulating the success of mobile games that have long incorporated in-game purchases of additional levels, features, and functionalities as a key revenue source,” IDC notes.

The Appcelerator/IDC 1Q11 Mobile App Developer Survey Report unveiled in January the fact that an increasing number of developers are looking towards including in-app purchasing and mobile advertising features in their software.

“App developers are not only focusing on ways to 'appify' just about every interaction you can think of in your physical and digital worlds, they are now focusing on longer term sustainability issues,” noted Scott Ellison, vice president, Mobile and Connected Consumer Platforms.

“The user sustainability trifecta of social networking, location, and the cloud are now increasingly being supported by the business model financial trifecta of application store purchases, in-app purchasing, and in-app advertising.”

The research firm also notes that these business models based on in-app purchasing will have to engage users more than before, and that the manner in which apps are built should be modified.

These changes will result in shifts in how apps are conceptualized, and in the inclusion of more services and features in them, such as social networking and location.