Apple, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Nokia, even Acer and Samsung, are all pointed towards on-device digital distribution; according to In-Stat, upwards of 100 million handsets with application stores on them will be in the market by 2014. Whether or not that translates to people who will actually use said channels is another issue altogether, but it’s hard to argue against apps being the future of mobile. A few conclusions reached by In-Stat’s research includes:
- Smartphones having a strong app store orientation will reach 30% of the global smartphone market by 2013, approaching nearly 100 million units.
- Survey respondents show iPhone users are by far the most active apps store users, significantly outpacing users of Blackberry, Palm OS or Windows Mobile phones.
- Application marketing, like all new advertising media, lacks consistent, accepted analytics many advertisers are accustomed to.
Although Apple currently has the big lead in this particular feature, the Ovi Store sounds promising with its heavy social networking angle, and RIM’s App World could give some of their hidden gems a lot more exposure. The competition is bound to be heated – it’ll be interesting to see how (or if) the iPhone holds onto its lead. Head on over to In-Stat for more information on their research.
[via ComputerWorld]