According to ABI Research, a new architecture based on software running in the cloud will drastically change the way mobile applications are developed, acquired and used. The research company’s new study forecasts that this will be a profoundly disruptive development that could eclipse the current mobile application model by 2014, delivering revenue of nearly $20 billion annually by the end of that year.
Mobile application developers today have to develop for multiple platforms to make sure their work reaches wide user base. In that sense, ABI’s senior analyst Mark Beccue believes that using Web-based technologies, developers could make apps that run on servers instead of locally, reducing development costs, as only one version of the application would be needed. He continues with words: “This trend is in its infancy today, but ABI Research believes that eventually it will become the prevailing model for mobile applications.”
On that note, it’s worth adding that HTML 5 is designed to enable data caching on the handset, allowing work to continue until mobile signal is restored.
Beccue concludes that cloud computing will bring “unprecedented sophistication” to mobile applications. As examples, he points how business users could benefit from collaboration and data sharing apps, while personal users could gain from remote access apps…
More information about ABI Research’s study “Mobile Cloud Computing” is available from their website.