The unstoppable rise of the smartphone and more recent addition, the tablet computer, has revolutionised computing in many different ways. One of the most spectacular has been the introduction of the ‘app’: a small downloadable programme which usually has one specific function aimed as opposed to the multi functional ‘bloatware’ programmes that have come to plague desktop setups.
Although an essential part of the design of an app is a simple, easy to use interface and methodology, their creation is another matter. If you are looking to use a custom app in your business it is best to hire professional app developers who will be able to take your specifications and make sure the end product is perfect for a mobile operating system environment.
The huge market for apps has thrown up some impressive statistics, with data struggling to keep up with contemporary facts on a day to day basis – but what are the most shocking figures?
76.9 billion – 2014 download figure
Major computing analysts IDC reported that as long ago as 2010, 300,000 applications were downloaded 10.9 billion times and goes on to predicate that by 2014 global downloads will reach 76.9 billion.
29 billion – 2011 download figure
More recent data from ABI Research in October last year suggested that 2011 would see a total of 29 billion apps downloaded – a fact which is a staggering rise from 9 billion in the previous year.
44% – Android market share
Although the whole market sector was kickstarted by Apple and the introduction of the iPhone, apps made for the Google owned Android operating system overtook Apple in 2011 gaining a 44% share of all downloads as compared to Apple’s 31%.
$7.3 billion – 2011 app revenue
With these kind of download figures, even though a proportion are ‘free’ to use the revenue created by paid for versions makes for eye watering reading. Direct revenue from the sale of apps across smartphones and tablets was estimated to be $7.3 billion in 2011 and expected to rise fivefold to $36.7 billion by 2015.
70 – number of app stores
The process of purchasing an app is also a contentious issue with each of the major players trying to keep it under their own control with dedicated ‘app stores’. This is unlikely to continue as the proliferation of app stores increases and breaks the virtual monopolies on app sales.
Recent industry reports found 70 different app stores categorised by the availability of apps for the main mobile platforms, i.e. Apple (i0S), Android and Blackberry.
There were 13 stores dedicated to Android products, 5 to Apple apps and 3 for Blackberry. Another 7 were accounted for by being operated by the manufacturers of devices whilst the largest number, 26, were cross-platform.
42 million – number of Chefville downloads
Reliable data for the success or failure of apps is difficult to confirm as some app stores keep download stats for individual apps to themselves. However, at the time of writing, appdata.com reported that ‘Chefville’ was the most popular with over 42 million downloads, closely followed by ‘The Ville’ with 40 million.
