The global market for mobile app downloads is set to more than double by the turn of the year. According to analysts Ovum, downloads are projected to hit 18billion by the end of 2011 representing an increase of 144% compared with 2010. The firm also predicted that the amount of apps downloads per year will top 45bn by 2016. Good news for gambling industry, firms that are continuing to develop more-and-more content for mobile devices.
In terms of which systems will see the most growth, Android has barged Apple off the pedestal and will be leading by 2012. Forecasts show that Android’s apps will total 8.1bn downloads by 31 December 2011 thus surpassing Apple’s figure of 6bn. To realize just how much growth the mobile industry is seeing, you only have to gaze at last year’s figures – Android 1.4bn downloads; Apple 2.7bn downloads.
Nick Dillon, Ovum’s devices analyst, commented, “Although Android phones will lead on total download numbers, iPhone will continue to dominate the market in terms of revenues from paid-for apps, reaching $2.86bn (£1.8bn) in 2016, compared with $1.5bn (£0.9bn) for Android.”
A number of mobile gaming industry personalities have looked to favor the Apple App Store over what the Android Market has to offer – it has nothing to do with Apple’s device looking cooler either. The fragmented nature of the Android Market makes it increasingly hard for your app to be noticed or found by anyone. It has meant that Android users tend to download more from the top list of apps rather than anywhere else. Apple does have its problems with app approval times painfully slow. With the highest global sales of any handset, it’s unlikely that gaming firms will halt their preference for Apple. Android, meanwhile, has a wealth of handsets that customers can choose from. Everyone’s a winner babay! With China the world’s second largest app market there’s plenty more winning where that came from too.
