Mobile app downloads are set to soar from 10.7 billion in
2010 to 182.7 billion in 2015, according to International Data Corporation
(IDC).

 

While this number is impressive, the even bigger story
behind the numbers is an impending shift away from the current, near-total
reliance upon initial app download purchases as the primary focus of app
monetization to a rapidly growing focus on in-app purchasing to fund business
models.

 

This shift is most evident in the free app category,
where in-app purchases
allow users to buy a more functional version of the app or to turn on
additional features. In this instance, the mobile apps space is largely
emulating the success of mobile games that have long incorporated in-game purchases
of additional levels, features, and functionalities as a key revenue source.

 

This shift became very evident in January with the
Appcelerator/IDC 1Q11 Mobile App Developer Survey Report, in which developers
reported dramatically increased plans to incorporate in-app purchasing, mobile
advertising, and mobile commerce in their apps.

 

“App developers are not only focusing on ways to ‘appify’ just about every interaction you can think of in your physical and
digital worlds, they are now focusing on longer term sustainability issues. The
user sustainability trifecta of social networking, location, and the cloud are
now increasingly being supported by the business model financial trifecta of
application store purchases, in-app purchasing, and in-app advertising,”
said Scott Ellison, vice president, Mobile and Connected Consumer Platforms,
IDC.

 

Business models that seek to include in-app purchasing
and in-app advertising must, by definition, further engage users, both within
the app itself and over time. Together these dynamics are driving significant
shifts in how apps are conceptualized the integration of additional services
and features like social networking and location to more deeply engage users,
and how apps are actually developed in terms of incorporating in-app
purchasing.

 

By telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]