Consumers are expected to spend $6.2bn in 2010 in mobile application stores while advertising revenue is expected to generate $0.6bn worldwide, according to IT research and advisory firm Gartner.
Gartner analysts said that the mobile application stores will exceed 4.5 billion downloads in 2010 and eight out of ten will be free to end users. The firm forecasts worldwide downloads in mobile app stores to surpass 21.6 billion by 2013, while free downloads will account for 82% of all downloads in 2010, and 87% of downloads in 2013.
Stephanie Baghdassarian, research director at Gartner, said: “As smartphones grow in popularity and application stores become the focus for several players in the value chain, more consumers will experiment with application downloads. Games remain the No. 1 application, and mobile shopping, social networking, utilities and productivity tools continue to grow and attract increasing amounts of money.”
According to the research firm, worldwide mobile application stores’ download revenue exceeded $4.2bn in 2009 and is expected to grow to $29.5bn by the end of 2013. The revenue forecast includes end-user spending on paid-for applications and advertising-sponsored free applications. Advertising-sponsored mobile applications are expected to generate almost 25% of mobile application stores revenue by 2013.
The firm said that high-end smartphone users are the early adopters of new mobile applications, while average smartphone users are more reluctant to pay for applications, as they are less tech-savvy.
Ms Baghdassarian added: “Growth in smartphone sales will not necessarily mean that consumers will spend more money, but it will widen the addressable market for an offering that will be advertising-funded. The value chain of the application stores will evolve as rules are set and broken in an attempt to find the most profitable business model for all parties involved.”
