Mobile Application Marketplaces yet to Reach a Plateau
Factors that Contribute to the Growth of the Mobile Application Industry
Recent studies conducted by World Mobile Applications have predicted that by the year 2015, the mobile application marketplace will have reached up to $25 billion and that number will continue to grow well into the future. This is yet another confirmation that the mobile application industry, specifically mobile application marketplaces are one of the most dominant and growing sectors in the world of high-tech. In 2010, mobile application “experts” claimed that the total revenue generated from mobile application marketplaces was $6.8 billion but as World Mobile Applications forecasts, that number will reach over $25 billion within the next four years.
The growth of the mobile application industry and mobile application marketplaces can be linked to a variety of reasons with the primary one being the lowering of mobile data plans and the growth of Smartphones available in the market. In the past mobile devices were expensive to activate and a majority of mobile device users were from the middle and upper class. Then when the tech-world started becoming more dependent on mobility and wireless technology, mobile phone providers realized that they needed to lower the cost of data plans to ensure they continued growth by bringing aboard more mobile users. At the same time, since corporations were becoming more reliant on mobility and wireless communication for their employees, mobile companies started developing more Smartphone devices that both business and personal users could gain benefits from. Business users were able to use their mobile device to read/send emails, check real-time news, communicate with other employees while personal users were able to use their mobile device to play mobile gaming applications, purchase movie tickets, surf the World Wide Web, and a variety of other functionalities.
Other factors that are contributing to the growth of the mobile application industry are the improvements in native mobile application usability and capabilities. In the past, mobile applications were very basic, difficult to navigate thru, slow connection speeds and poor picture quality but in the past few years, mobile application developers have taken great steps forward on improving the user interface, functionality and usability of mobile applications. Companies such as Apple, Google, RIM, and Windows created mobile application marketplaces where users can go to access and download mobile applications onto their Smartphone device. Now that there are mobile application marketplaces available on a variety of mobile networks, mobile application developers have a marketplace to go and sell their mobile applications to the public.
With so much momentum building in the mobile application industry, it is clear to see why there are so many mobile application developers and companies that are starting to venture into the mobile application industry. In fact, the mobile application industry/mobile application marketplaces are one of the few industries that have not been affected by the recent economic downturn; in 2008 the mobile application industry saw a growth of 146% (in terms of downloads) or 1 billion downloads and in 2009, that figure rose to 6.4 billion mobile application downloads. While there will be a variety of statistics available for individuals to analyze, the overall findings remain the same; the mobile application industry and mobile application marketplaces is a big business that has not been affected by the ongoing recession and one that has yet to reach a plateau.