UK analyst Wireless Expertise is the latest to try to put a number on future growth of the mobile applications market, claiming that it will leap from US$4.66 billion this year to US$16.6 billion by 2013. That's global, as compared to the recent prediction by Yankee Group that the US apps market will be worth US$4.2 billion by 2013.
Wireless Expertise's forecasts are based on an estimate that there'll be 1.6 billion smartphone users by 2013, making up 28-30 per cent of the overall mobile market. "We expect Apple to face tough competition from mobile operators, independent service providers and competing vendor application portals in the next 18-24 months," says CEO Anuj Khanna. "Mobile operators have to adopt a dual app store strategy, using the now widely-accepted app store model in conjunction with a browser-based widget store, to provide the greatest potential for a mass-market proposition." Article