ABI Research predicts 2012 will be remembered as the year when the mobile apps market truly took off, in terms of the economic side of the market.
The firm tips total mobile app revenues to break $30 billion (€23.1 billion) by the year-end, nearly double the total income raised by the market to-date by end-2011.
“We’re no longer talking about a short-term gold rush,” notes senior analyst Aapo Markkanen. “Apps have become a major digital industry.”
Markkanen says Google is the stand out firm of 2012, noting its new Google Play offering “has begun resembling a respectable department store,” particularly when compared to the “garage sale” approach of its previous Android Market app store.
However, the dominance of Google and Apple could yet be challenged by Microsoft and RIM, which ABI notes have made monetization a key aspect of their platform strategies.