14 DAY TRIAL // Application stores are becoming increasingly popular among mobile phone users, yet it seems that things are only incipient, and that the storefronts are set to grow significantly, during the ongoing year and the next few ones.
In 2011 alone, the combined revenues from four major mobile application stores should increase by no less than 77.7 percent, reaching $3.8 billion, a recent report from iSuplli reads.
These would be the results of a new IHS Screen Digest research, focused on mobile application portals run by Apple Inc., Google Inc., Nokia Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd.
“With consumers continuing to show robust, unflagging interest in downloading games and other applications to devices like smart phones and tablets, collective revenues from the four stores will climb sharply this year,” said Jack Kent, analyst, mobile media, for IHS.
Last year, the combined revenue for these stores was of $2.1 billion, while in 2009 it topped only $830.6 million.
The total download revenues from mobile software should increase to $5.6 billion in 2012, while reaching $6.9 billion in 2013 and $8.3 billion in 2014.
“The four app stores are the major players at present in the field, but other sites, such as Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace, conceivably could gain enough size and presence in the future to shake up the market,” the research firm notes. Google’s Android Market is expected to register impressive growth in 2011, with revenue expected to grow 295.4 percent this year to $425.36 million, keeping the portal on track top becoming the second largest in the world, behind Apple's App Store.
RIM's BlackBerry App World would fall to the third place, with expected revenue of $279.11 million, marking a 69.2 percent growth, but registering the fewest downloads. The Nokia Ovi Store might register $201.48 million in revenue this year, with 1.1 billion downloads.
“The total number of downloaded applications in 2011 is expected to reach 18.1 billion by year-end, compared to 9.5 billion last year, 3.1 billion in 2009 and 419.2 million in 2008. By 2014, downloaded applications will top some 33 billion,” iSuppli concluded.
