Mobile Apps In 2011: A $15 Billion Industry

A three-fold increase over 2010

Jan 27 2011, 6:33pm CST | by Mark Raby

Mobile Apps In 2011: A $15 Billion Industry

If a leading analyst group's predictions are correct, the year for mobile apps in 2011 will nearly triple from what we saw in 2010.

Gartner has issued a report saying it expects sales generated through mobile app stores to exceed $15 billion this year. That's compared to just $5.2 billion in 2010.

That number includes both direct purchases from mobile users and revenue generated from ad sales related to mobile apps.

"Application stores have become a highly visible and potentially lucrative part of the smartphone ecosystem, largely due to Apple's App Store," said Gartner analyst Stephanie Baghdassarian.

In addition to the iPhone, Android phone, Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry platforms, the wild increase in mobile content revenue will be spurred by the emergence of tablets this year.

Tablets are considered in the same group as mobile phones because they run the same kind of operating system, so software works across both ranges of devices.

Between Android and the iPhone, there are nearly a half a million apps available. That's pretty impressive considering that three years ago, that number was 0.

Clearly, 2011 is going to be a year all about mobile. In addition to the introduction of the Verizon iPhone, 4G is going to spread all across the industry this year and sophisticated mobile gaming is expected to make a big entrance.

Even though Android is starting to become the most popular smartphone platform in the US, Gartner expects Apple's App Store to remain the strongest money earner until at least 2014.

Updates

YPmobile: App takes the Yellow Pages on the road

Source: The Washington Post

YPmobile Take the Yellow Pages on the road with you Taking a Memorial Day road trip? Check out the gas prices search in YPmobile, the Yellow Pages’ mobile app. Need a bite to eat? Try the restaurant search. Those two search ...
Full article at: The Washington Post More like this 34 minutes ago, 6:50pm CDT

1,600 GameStops Selling Android Tablets

Source: Got Game News

GameStop announced that 1,600 of their stores have started carrying Android tablets. The tablets being carried are the Asus Transformer and Transformer Prine, Acer Iconia 7 and 1.01 versions and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. In addit ...
Full article at: Got Game News More like this 54 minutes ago, 6:30pm CDT

UK services firms most upbeat in a year: CBI

Source: Economic Times

LONDON: British services firms' confidence rose to the highest level in a year in May and they forecast a pick-up in business in the next three months, a survey showed on Sunday. The quarterly poll by the Confederat ...
Full article at: Economic Times More like this 57 minutes ago, 6:27pm CDT

where to buy

Buy from Amazon

Don't miss ...

Android

Seven Coolest Android Smartphones

Mark Raby
Based in New York City, Mark follows the consumer electronics industry like a hawk. A published book author, he has a particular affinity for 3D technology and video games, and as such will surely be in the market for a new pair of glasses soon. Mark can be contacted directly at mark@i4u.com.