As we have a growing number of app stores, Juniper Research is forecasting that the annual number of consumer-oriented handset downloads will rise from less than 2.6 billion in 2009 to more than 25 billion in 2015.
The research company argues that players across the mobile value chain are seeking to emulate Apple’s AppStore success. Hence we have a rising number of carriers unveiling their solutions – China Unicom has “Mobile Market,” India’s Bharti “Airtel App Central” and Vodafone “Apps & Games Shop.” At the same time there are manufacturer and platform specific storefronts, as well as independents such as GetJar and Handango.
However, Juniper cautions that those looking to launch an app store also need to demonstrate sufficient scale to make developers interested.
The report also talks about the so called “freemium” model which allows publishers to offer applications for free and subsequently monetising them via in-app billing of subscription-based services, upgrades to premium content or micropayments for virtual items.
As usual, you can get more information from Juniper’s website.