A report from Juniper Research predicts direct and indirect revenues from mobile applications are expected
to exceed $25bn by 2014, with growth fueled by a app store
launches targeting both high-end and mass market handsets.
The mobile applications report found that while the overwhelming
majority of application (app) revenues are currently accrued from
one-off downloads, the increasing utilization of in-app billing to
enable incremental revenues from additional mobile content will see
value-added services (VAS) providing the dominant revenue stream by
2011. It also noted that many Tier 1 operators would seek to deploy
their own app stores in a bid to maintain content revenue share.
However, the Juniper mobile applications report stressed that in the
longer term, the greatest benefits to operators would be derived from
data revenues associated with app usage rather than from the retail
price of apps and content - providing that the operators rejected the
walled garden approach. According to report author Dr Windsor Holden,
"Data revenue growth is dependent upon operators embracing policies
which enable open access - a policy which also involves facilitating
app stores which compete with their on-portal offerings."
In addition, the report noted that, given the fact that app stores
currently cater exclusively for smartphones, then operators, developers
and content providers would be unwise to ignore opportunities from
traditional app and content distribution and monetization channels.
Other findings from the Juniper report include:
• Games will
remain the largest category in terms of overall app downloads and
revenues, although Multimedia & Entertainment apps will attract the
greatest share of VAS revenues from 2009 onwards
- App stores present a significant challenge to traditional content
aggregators who may be obliged both to expand the range of their
content portfolios and to amend their business models to remain viable
Juniper Research assesses the current and future status of mobile
applications and apps stores market based on interviews, case studies
and analysis from representatives of some of the leading organisations
in the growing mobile applications and apps stores industry.