The smartphone application space is going to explode this year, as ABI Research said there will be nearly 6 billion apps downloaded this year.
That’s a sizable jump from last year, when 2.4 billion mobile programs were downloaded. This skyrocketing growth is due to the larger overall adoption of smartphones as well as the introduction of new platforms like Samsung’s bada and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.
As you can see by the chart, the iPhone OS will continue to account for the bulk of these downloads thanks to the momentum it has with the App Store. This will probably continue as Apple gives developers more tools to create iPhone apps and we may finally get full third-party multitasking with the 4.0 update. I’m also expecting them to preview the iAds platform to better monetize these programs.
“The iPhone will continue to be the leading app platform, with a database of over 125,000 applications offering niche and localized content,” said ABI researcher Bhavya Khanna, in a prepared statement. “Other platforms are still playing catch-up, with Android being the fastest gainer among them. ABI Research expects that with over 30,000 applications now available, over 800 million Android applications will be downloaded in 2010.”
It’s not going to be a complete money train for developers though, as the report said the revenues from mobile app sales are going to decline in 2012 because the glut of competition will lead to a ton of pricing pressure. Sucks for them, really, but that does mean we’ll be getting some cheaper programs.
[Via ABI Research]