Has the app economy peaked?
The app explosion has been a huge driver of the success of the smartphone. But people are becoming less willing to pay for those apps.
- February 2013
- Ewan Duncan
Authors
The explosion of apps — be they games, content or productivity enhancers — has been one of the biggest drivers of the success of the smartphone. But paying for apps is now starting to decline. If this can’t be reversed, then publishers may need to rethink their business models — just as they’re starting to get a handle on digital distribution.
Smartphone penetration is now over 50 percent of the US population and is still increasing rapidly. Tablet penetration is doubling every year, and stands at about 33 percent currently. The more people use smartphones, the more apps they use. In fact, the average person’s number of actively used apps has tripled over the last four years from about 7 to about 23. This should be all good news for app creators — be they the kids in their bedrooms hoping to strike it rich, or the large developers.
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