Mobile App Store Downloads to Peak in 2013

A recently published report from ABI Research shows that the number of downloads smartphone users will make from mobile application stores is expected to reach almost 7 billion in 2013. Most of the mobile software solutions are currently downloaded via app stores, and their number topped 2.4 billion applications last year, a rate expected to accelerate during the following few years. However, it seems that the leader in the area will remain Apple's App Store, the research firm states.

What's more interesting is that 2013 will actually mark the highest point in mobile app store downloads, which are expected to start declining on smartphones in the years to follow. Even so, ABI Research states that the total number of downloads from all sources is still forecast to register growth from that point onwards.

“App stores aren’t going away: following the 2013 peak in demand, the number of downloads in 2015 will have decreased only seven or eight percent. But as our use of the mobile Internet evolves, demand will increasingly shift elsewhere,” senior analyst Mark Beccue commented on the findings of the report.

According to Beccue, the mobile web is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and users are expected to start taking advantage of its features directly from mobile websites instead of using dedicated apps for that. “We see two emerging trends: first, many applications (increasingly built on web standards) will migrate from app stores to regular websites, and for some sites you won’t need an app at all,” he stated. At the same time, the number of applications pre-loaded on handsets is expected to increase significantly too, especially social networking apps.

The report focuses on smartphones and high-end devices that provide users with enhanced mobile Internet experiences, and which are currently available mainly in mature markets. On the other hand, mobile network operators (MNOs) are also moving in the mobile app store area, and they are expected to expand the reach of these apps to features phones, which means that they would cover emerging markets too, even if the presence of smartphones is reduced there.

More info on ABI Research's new “Mobile Application Storefronts” study can be found on the research firm's website.