By Telecom Lead Team: Apps will be the rage
at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), as manufacturers are keen to cash in on
the more than 41 billion phone and tablet downloads in 2012.

The average selling price of paid downloads
is declining across every major platform, as competition heats up and devices
move into emerging markets.

To offset this loss, storefronts, carriers,
and developers look to virtual goods, an industry which will quintuple in size
from 2011 to more than $1 billion in 2012.

Apple and Android look to take advantage of
their positions to retain developer interest, maintain a steady flow of high
quality apps, and keep consumers wedded to their ecosystems, according to
Strategy Analytics.

To position their platforms for the future,
competitors will need to move quickly into the virtual goods space before Apple
and Android consolidate their already sizeable leads in paid downloads.

“The introduction of tablets from Amazon
and Barnes and Noble and a renewed push for Windows Phone ensure an
intensifying battle for the third horse in the apps ecosystem race. Unlike paid
downloads that offer one time payment, virtual goods allow developers to earn
recurring revenue from heavily used apps, making the business opportunity
appealing. Despite the importance of virtual goods, few platforms beyond the
leaders have stepped up. Thus, Android and Apple may well dominate into the
future,” said Josh Martin, director of Apps Research at Strategy Analytics.

Recently,
Strategy Analytics Wireless Enterprise (WES) Forecast said that the global
combined shipments of corporate-liable and personal-liable business use tablets
quadrupled to reach 30 million units in 2011, and will increase to over 40
million units in 2012.

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