Mobile Apps are going to grow by 4x in 5 yrs, says report

Information Week is reporting on some research by In-stat, that says the number of mobile application store users will grow by 4x to more than 100mn, within just 5 years!

In-stat’s report is called “The Apps Store Is Born” – and clearly informed heavily by Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s App Store – which has seen 800mn+ downloads in the last year. There are of course new entrants in to the field (RIM), some old hands (Handango), and even some free players (GetJar), but the trailblazer (certainly from a PR point-of-view anyway) has been Apple.

The extent to which “Apps” have taken over has even meant that industry commentators are writing pieces on whether Apps are the future – well, my perspective is, only if they have something useful to do – that usefulness might be entertaining you (games), being productive (office-like apps), or maybe something of general interest (translator), but it seems at any rate that consumers are getting that there is more to content that just static ringtones and wallpapers.

At any rate, the research sees a rosy future for App Stores, so long as business models can be clearly defined. Certainly if people continue to invest in applications at the rate they have been, I’ve got to agree!

[Via: Information Week]