Apple – which continues to dominate the mobile app market – generated a cool $1.8 billion in app revenue during 2010, giving Cupertino a lucrative 82.7% share. Still, Apple did lose significant ground, as its market share decreased from a high of 92.8% in 2009.
Meanwhile, Google’s Android Market managed to eke out a respectable 4.7 percent share of global mobile app store revenue in 2010, up from 1.3 percent in 2009.
As IHS analyst Jack Kent points out, Google’s advances – while relatively modest in terms of market share – can nonetheless be considered quite “dramatic,” with revenue soaring 861.5% during 2010.
“[Yes], competitors managed to close the gap with Apple’s iPhone [by] providing smartphone products with compelling user interfaces,” explained Kent.
“However, in terms of mobile application stores, Apple remains far ahead of the competition, with the other stores so far unable to replicate Apple’s success in generating revenue from users.”
According to Kent, Apple has been able to successfully maintain a definite advantage by leveraging its tightly controlled ecosystem – combining compelling hardware and content with the capability to offer consumers an integrated and simple billing service via iTunes.
“[Of course], the Apple App Store in 2010 also benefitted from the introduction of the iPad. While the iPad’s installed base in 2010 was small compared to the iPhone, iPad apps cost more than iPhone apps, giving them a disproportionate impact on Apple’s revenue,” said Kent.
“[Still], by 2014, about 50 percent of Apple App Store revenues in the United States will be generated by iPad users, up from less than 20 percent in 2010.”
The analyst added that Apple would retain more than half of app market revenue (at least) through 2014.
In the meantime, Nokia’s OVI Store posted the second strongest growth in 2010, with revenue increasing by 719.4%, giving it a 4.9% share of the application market business, up from 1.5 percent in 2009.
Unsurprisingly, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry App World retained its No. 2 rank with 360.3% growth, as its app market share jumped to 7.7%, up from 4.3% in 2009.
