According to a press release from IDC (provider of market intelligence and other services to the IT, telecoms and consumer technology industries),
"the number of mobile devices accessing the Internet [will] surpass the one billion mark over the next four years."
This equates to an increase of more than 100%, since 450 million people around the world already access the internet via a mobile phone, SmartPhone or other device. With more and more users getting online this way, for both professional and personal reasons, there's likely to be a parallel upward shift in the number of applications being downloaded - either for free or at a price.
Mention applications, of course, and most people think about Apple's App Store - the phenomenally successful online marketplace for mobile software that's used by the 50m + iPhone and iPod Touch users. The store dominates because, as Apple announced in November, it has:
* Over 100,000 apps available, in 20 different categories
* 10,000 downloads every day
* Customers in 77 countries
Impressive stuff. But it's worth remembering that the other mobile device manufacturers are ramping up their efforts too. Nokia (with about 38% of the SmartPhone market compared to Apple's 17% according to IDC's November research) has its Ovi store, RIM's BlackBerry (19%) has App World and - perhaps most significantly - Google has Android Market. (The market share figure for Android is harder to calculate, as it is being adopted by several manufacturers including Motorola, Samsung LG, Sony Ericsson and HTC.)
In 2010 and beyond, these sites will undoubtedly grow and start challenging Apple's Apps Store in terms of public awareness, if not sales volume. It will be very interesting to keep an eye on these developments and determine the improvements they generate for users, hardware manufacturers and apps developers.
(Image courtesy of Orbital Joe on Flickr)
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