Mobile apps to generate $1.6 billion revenue this year: Study

According to a new study conducted by the Yankee Group, mobile applications are expected to generate nearly $1.6 billion revenue in the United States in the year 2010.

There are several factors in the report which show the increase in the shipments of smartphones, and more application stores including the expensive ones. Though Apple iPhone users and AT&T subscribers download more applications than anyone else, the research organization has predicted that Android will be the next breakout smartphone application platform.

According to Carl Howe, director of anywhere consumer research at Yankee Group, Boston, MA, two factors drove the company to increase their forecast, the first one was an increase in the percentage of apps that consumers were willing to pay for- up from 18 percent in August to 30 percent in January- and an overall increase in average paid application price from $1.99 in August to $2.85 this year.

The 2009 forecast of the company was $343 million, but that was using the prior paid app ratio of 18 percent with an average price of $1.99.