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At the moment, most mobile applications for smartphones are downloaded from app stores. According to ABI Research data, last year consumers downloaded some 2.4 billion applications from such stores, which is an impressive figure. What’s more, that number is set to keep growing and peak in 2013 at just below seven billion. As expected, Apple’s AppStore will continue to lead the field.
However, in the years afterwards, smartphone download rates from app stores will start a slow decline. ABI argues that more and more people will start visiting mobile websites, which thanks to HTML5 will be able to do many of the tasks currently only apps can do. Moreover, handset makers will pre-install apps on their products (most likely social networking apps and some mobile office suites), removing the need for downloading those kinds of applications.
On the other hand, as mobile operators are building their own app stores, we’ll have feature phone owners starting to embrace apps on a bigger scale. This will especially be true in the emerging markets where smartphone penetration is lower…
And you can get additional information from ABI Research’s new “Mobile Application Storefronts” report.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
