If you thought mobile apps were popular now, just wait. The news is out and the predictions say that mobile apps are going to be bigger than other common markets in the future. The yearly growth for the android app store is remarkable. The growth for the apple iTunes store, the place for iPhone and iPad apps is also a model of skyrocketing growth. In 2009, Apple had more than 25,000 apps in their store. Last month Apple had 100,000 apps in their store just for the iPad alone. They are now moving a billion apps a month in their store and have 425,000 apps for all their devices. As of a few months ago, iOS users were downloading five million games per day, not per week or per month.
That is just for one segment of the mobile app realm. Android is another growing part of the app scene. Android started out with Google’s idea of mixing in Java and Linux to produce a mobile operating system for telephones and later, tablets. So far their idea has been a success. Their growth in the number of apps is impressive. They started out in the middle of 2009 with around 1669 apps. In two years they now have 425,000 apps and games total. They are activating a total of 550,000 ( unconfirmed ) android devices daily. Their total downloads for apps just from their store, the “android market” amounts to six billion. It is widely predicted that android will overtake iOS, the Apple mobile operating system in the near future. At the moment, thanks to patent litigation, some manufacturers who make smartphones with android in them are having to pay companies like Microsoft to produce them.
The reason? Google may have copied parts of their android operating system ( Java ) without telling anyone. For instance, Microsoft gets five dollars per every handset they make that is running the android operating system.
Since apps are a huge segment of making a smartphone usable, the project development revenue is going to be accelerating. It will be more valuable than some aspects of the medical industry. The mobile gaming market by itself is predicted to be the top market among those who use a mobile device. Interestingly, the top contender last year, Nokia, was creating their own app store. They called it the “Ovi” store. They have since been scratched from the running. Amazon dot com has also created their own app store, hoping to cash in on the “openness” of the android platform.
The top dog at the moment is Apple and their iOS system with its “walled garden” approach to marketing. Look for more patent wars and litigation as more people jump into the smartphone craze.
