Mobile apps now a "two-horse race" between Apple and Google
updated 12:00 pm EDT, Thu August 5, 2010
Android and iOS to have 78pc of mobile apps
Apple and Google combined will have almost complete dominance of mobile apps this year, ABI estimated today. It saw the field as now just a "two-horse race" between Android and iOS that would give the two 78 percent of all app downloads this year. Apple will still have the clear majority with over half, 52 percent, reaching iPads, iPhones and iPods.
Android is catching up in influence with 200,000 phones a day going live and increasing potential audience, but others from ostensibly larger competitors like RIM's BlackBerry App World or Nokia's Ovi Store are considered unlikely to improve at all in the near future Both neither have the variety of apps they need to draw nor a consistent platform to write for. Developers for Ovi have been the most vocal as they claim Nokia's excessive number of phone models makes it impossible to reach a large audience without having to code for several different screen resolutions and control methods.
The researchers warned that the long-term health of the market could be at risk. App prices are in a "race to the bottom" that sees many cost less than $5, and some are turning to ad-supported models simply to be free. Since Apple, Google and most others embrace cheap apps as a way of driving customers to their phones, the estimated peak of $8 billion in 2011 could see many struggling to be profitable.
Android may be the strongest contributor to the price drop. Current buying habits show many more free apps on Android than on iOS. RIM has tried to steer customers towards paid apps, but it has banned non-free apps below $3 and has led to some developers skipping the BlackBerry.
