Android’s smartphone app revenues are projected to reach almost $6.8 billion by the end of 2013, nearly doubling its revenues from the previous year. While Google’s mobile platform has some way to go before catching iOS’ smartphone revenues, it will grow at a faster rate. According to ABI Research, Android smartphone app revenues will increase from 59.1% to 65.9% when compared to iOS smartphone app revenues over the next twelve months.
Apple’s iOS still leads all the other mobile operating systems’ revenues by a significant margin; however, the greater number of Android smartphones in use is clawing back Apple’s lead in this market, according to ABI’s senior analyst Josh Flood.
Other key contributors to Android’s app revenues are its effective app advertising. Google has been incredibly successful at mastering targeted online advertising, and it’s bringing that experience and technology to the mobile world. In addition, Android’s willingness to incorporate carrier billing for its app purchases could prove to be a very decisive factor against iOS in-house payments. This capability is particularly notable in emerging markets such as Latin America and Asia-Pacific, where low-cost smartphone sales are beginning to rocket…