A new report from market research firm Gartner forecasts 102 mobile app downloads for 2013, an increase from 64 billion in 2012. It says revenues will exceed $26 billion, up from $18 billion last year.
“We expect strong growth in downloads through 2014, but growth is forecast to slow down a bit in later years,” stated Gartner’s Sandy Shen. “The average downloads per device should be high in early years as users get new devices and discover the apps they like. Over time they accumulate a portfolio of apps they like and stick to, so there will be moderate numbers of downloads in the later years.”
The freemium model is now dominating the mobile development industry, with free apps accounting for 91 percent of all downloads. In app purchases will be responsible 48 percent of all revenues, compared to just 11 percent last year.
