US app market to be worth $10bn by 2015
Increased use of 4G networks, tiered pricing and improved market competition to grow sector, says Juniper Research
A whitepaper published by UK research group Juniper has claimed that the North American app market will be worth around $10 billion by 2015, an increase of $4 billion from its 2009 valuation.
Chief among the reasons for the increase is the market shift toward the use of smartphones, although improving coverage and uptake of 4G networks is also seen to be an important factor.
"Carriers are at last recognising what developers want: the ability to publish their application across a wide variety of platforms while making those applications far more accessible to the end users," said report author Daniel Ashdown.
Whilst the change in phone capabilities has lead to a sharp decline in the mobile ringtone market, other areas have improved to increase the sector's overall revenue. Mobile gambling and adult applications were seen as the two biggest new areas, although established content genres such as games and entertainment had increased also.