Communications and Technology Industry Research

A recent research from Berg Insight finds there is substantial increase in the number of mobile application downloads. However, app monetization will remain a challenge for developers, according to Berg Insight.

The research agency predicts that mobile application downloads worldwide will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 56.6 percent between 2010 and 2015 to reach 98 billion at the end of the period.

The revenue from paid applications, in-app purchases and subscription services – so called direct revenues – reached € 1.6 billion ($2.5 billion approx) in 2010, and is estimated grow at a CAGR of 40.7 percent to reach € 8.8 billion ($13.7 billion approx)  in 2015.

"Even though the download numbers will increase during the forecast period, most apps are free to download and app monetization will be a challenge for developers," said Johan Svanberg, senior analyst, Berg Insight, in a statement.

"Free to download monetization strategies such as in-app advertising and in-app purchasing will be increasingly important,” Svanberg added. “This is especially true in the APAC region, which will account for over 40 percent of all mobile app downloads in 2015."

However, according to Svanberg, native mobile app is here to stay in the next coming years. New Web technologies such as HTML5 will be relevant alternatives to native apps. Web apps and native apps are not mutual exclusives and publishers looking for maximizing reach should develop for the Web as well as for the major mobile platforms, the research, “The Mobile Application Market,” said.

Among the leading mobile platforms, Apple’s (News - Alert) iOS is the current leader in direct monetization of mobile applications. The research agency hopes iOS will keep the number one position during the forecast period. The Android (News - Alert) and Windows Phone operating systems are anticipated to be number two and three respectively in 2015.

Recently Ovum predicted that mobile app downloads will increase 144 percent during 2011 compared to last year. However, according to Ovum, app downloads for Android devices will exceed those for Apple iOS devices for the first time during this period.

Ovum (News - Alert) predicts Android will see about 8.1 billion app downloads in 2011, compared to about 6 billion for Apple’s iOS devices.

In 2010, Apple saw 2.7 billion app downloads and Android saw 1.4 billion app downloads, according to Digital Trends.