Skip to main content

Freemium Smartphone Apps will Dominate in 2012

ABI Research believes that the emergence of the smartphone "Freemium" software application (app) market has been much more than a mere buzzword from this year. Moreover, the global market outlook for 2012 is likely to follow a similar pattern of high growth.

Within the top-ranked 250 Apple iOS apps, across all categories, an average of 88 percent are already free to download -- monetized incrementally with advertising and in-app purchases.

The trend will continue in 2012, and it is entirely possible that at this time next year, in selected categories, all relevant Apple iOS apps will be free.

Apple enabled in-app purchasing for free apps in October 2009 and since then developers have been remarkably quick to evolve their business models.

Aapo Markkanen, senior analyst for consumer mobility at ABI Research, said "What many observers misunderstand about Freemium is that it isn't only about monetizing, but also about marketing. The threshold for consumers to download free apps is really low, so more people end up using and recommending them -- which then also gives those apps a bump in distributor ranking systems."

The resulting impact: paid apps fail to draw the attention of smartphone users. However, the app adoption trend can differ substantially between countries.

In Germany, 17 percent of the top Apple iOS apps are still paid, while in India and South Africa their share is already as low as 5 percent. By contrast, in the United States, 10 percent of the top apps are free.

Furthermore, revenue models vary notably between different app categories. In both navigation and weather, one-fourth of the top apps are paid, whereas in segments like lifestyle (3 percent), entertainment (5 percent), and games (6 percent), their share is starting to be miniscule.

According to Dan Shey, ABI Research practice director for mobile services, "Apple has always had an edge against other app platforms in convincing users to pay, and if anything, the shift toward Freemium is amplifying the dynamic. In-app purchases are often impulse purchases, so the payment experience has to be very smooth and simple."

Regarding Google's mobile app market opportunity, ABI believes that revising the Android Market's current billing process will be one of the key issues for the company to address in 2012.

Popular posts from this blog

Global EV Charging Revenue to Exceed $300B

During 2022, fuel prices increased very quickly, partly due to a number of macroeconomic reasons. In fact, the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic are still impacting fuel prices, with many oil refineries having reduced capacity due to a prior fall in demand. Those significant events and other trends have created a demand for a growing variety of Electric Vehicles (EVs). While EVs have existed for decades, they really became a viable option for more consumers during the past five years. However, although EVs are suitable for some buyer needs, their usability is constrained by the current availability of battery charging infrastructure. EV Charging Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, revenue from electric vehicle charging will exceed $300 billion globally by 2027 -- that's up from $66 billion in 2023. Regardless, the Juniper analysis found that fragmentation in battery charging networks is restricting further EV adoption in some

Human Resource Transformation Enabled by IT

Many senior executives are taking a proactive approach to digital business transformation in order to achieve their strategic goals. Delivering revenue growth and profitability is now imperative for every function, including Human Resources (HR). The top 3 priority HR technologies this year are skills management, learning experience platforms, and internal talent marketplaces, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "With a tumultuous global economy, HR technology leaders face a balancing act in 2023," said Sam Grinter, director at Gartner . "Leaders must anticipate greater levels of accountability and demand for measurable outcomes to justify new technology investments." HR Transformation Market Development Forty-four percent of HR leaders report driving better business outcomes is their number one strategic priority for HR technology transformation over the next three years. Growth in headcount and skills (26 percent) and cost optimization (17 p

How Savvy Pioneers Lead the Future of Work

Hybrid and fully remote work are inevitable in the Global Networked Economy where high-performance talent demands flexibility from employers. To enable these progressive work models, organizations are investing in a wide range of technologies to support more agile types of employment.  According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), leading organizations will spend nearly $1 billion on the Future of Work (FoW) in 2023 -- that's an increase of 18.8 percent over 2022. Future of Work Market Development "Work models continue to evolve, but 37 percent of decision-makers in a recent global survey note that Remote and Hybrid work models will be an embedded part of accepted work practices, supported by a continued shift to the cloud, increasingly instrumented and interconnected physical workplaces, and intelligent digital workspaces," said Holly Muscolino, group vice president at IDC . According to the IDC assessment, organizations must mak