A new report from Citibank says that the Apple App Store will generate up to $2 billion in revenue from the App Store in 2011 and this move could help Steve Jobs’ company cement its lead with mobile developers.
It’s an interesting estimate and there’s no clear word on if Citibank is also factoring in the Verizon iPhone, which is widely rumored to land in early 2011. With about 93 million subscribers, Verizon represents a huge market for the Apple iPhone and app-hungry customers.
Other reports suggest that the mobile app market will be worth up to $30 billion by 2015, so the $2 billion mark for just Apple next year doesn’t seem too outlandish. Not all of that money will go directly into Steve Jobs’ pockets though, as developers still get 70% of the apps sold and there’s still a certain cost to maintain the store. Still, any profits Apple makes off the App Store could be considered gravy, as it is primarily viewed as a device to make it’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad more desirable.
This amount of projected revenue makes it difficult to imagine the Android Market or Windows Marketplace for Mobile catching up any time soon. Yes, the Android Market has now surpassed 200,000 apps but the revenue for app makers just isn’t the same yet.
Hopefully, that will start to change in 2011, as Google has revamped the Android Market to make it more appealing for end users. This is expected to help create more demand for apps, which should eventually lead to more revenue for the developers.
The Windows Marketplace for Mobile has surpassed 5,000 apps and while it may not be seeing the app download numbers that other markets are seeing, many developers may be making a good living because Microsoft hasn’t been shy about paying app makers.
Check out some of our favorite mobile programs of the year here.
[Via TechCrunch]