New York, NY – July 8, 2010 – The
dominance of Apple’s iPhone in the mobile app download market will be eroded
over the coming years as rivals Android, Symbian and BlackBerry make inroads,
Ovum has forecast.
A new report* by the independent
telecoms analyst states that mobile application downloads generated by
non-operator application stores will grow by a compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of around 41% globally over the next five years, with total downloads
almost reaching 21.3 billion by 2015. That’s up from 2.69 billion in
2009.
According to Ovum estimates, Apple
generated a massive 67% of all smartphone app downloads in 2009, despite
claiming just 14% of the overall smartphone installed base. Symbian, conversely,
commanded a 49% share of the smartphone installed base but only generated an
estimated 9% of the total applications downloads market.
The report states in 2015 Apple will
generate a relatively modest 22% of app downloads, compared to 19% for Symbian.
Michele Mackenzie, principal analyst at Ovum and
report co-author, said: “The iPhone generates the lion’s share of smartphone app
downloads but over the period we will see the share of application downloads
becoming more equally distributed. Over the forecast period other smartphone
platforms gain ground and by 2015 the landscape looks very different in terms of
market share.”
Between 2009-15, Ovum expects
Google’s Android to increase its smartphone base from 5% to 18% penetration and
its mobile application download share from 14% to 26%.
While BlackBerry looks set to lose
smartphone share over the forecast period as newer players like Android move in
aggressively, it will more than triple its share of the app download market from
5% to 17%. Similarly, Microsoft loses smartphone share but doubles its mobile
application download share.
Adam Leach, Ovum principal analyst
and report co-author, said that while North America will continue to dominate,
its share of the smartphone mobile app downloads market will decrease from 57%
in 2009 to 31% in 2015.
“Application stores benefit from a
vast appetite for applications in this region as well as a growing smartphone
base, as well as the fact that the dominant smartphone players have their roots
in the North American market”, he added.
Ovum expects Asia Pacific to
experience the highest growth, with its share of the global market set to
quadruple from 5% in the early phase to 20% by 2015. This growth will be driven
by growing penetration of smartphones in the region coupled with the increased
availability of applications with local relevance.
---ENDS---
NOTES TO
EDITORS
* Ovum’s Mobile Application Download
Forecast 2009-15 includes all software applications that can be downloaded over
a mobile network to a mobile device. This includes mobile applications that
allow the user to run web-based applications: e.g. widgets; applications built
for multi-platform runtimes such as Java; and applications that are built to run
natively on the mobile device. Some of these applications may include content in
the form of (for example) games and maps, but differ from standard content in
that they offer a level of interactivity. We do not
include mobile multimedia content such as ringtones and videos in the forecast.
Related research: To read more about Ovum’s mobile application developer survey, click herehttp://bit.ly/bP63Wn
Michele Mackenzie and
Adam Leach, principal analysts at Ovum and report co-authors, are available for
comment.
To arrange an interview
or for further details regarding this release please contact Alicia Barrios in
the Ovum press office on + 1 570 687 9319, or email us_pr@datamonitor.com
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OVUM
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