Apple’s by far the market leader today when it comes to mobile application stores, thanks to its own App Store, which has risen to dominance based on the popularity of the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
But Apple’s not the only game in town, and at least one industry researcher sees it eventually losing out to app store competitors like Google’s Android, which can claim a proliferating number of handsets and users. The RIM BlackBerry, long a powerhouse in the workplace, may also be positioning itself to cut into Apple’s lead.
Datamation takes a look at the shifting landscape of mobile apps stores, and how its changes might affect both enterprise users and application developers in the future.
Thanks to the popularity of the iPhone, Apple holds the top spot now when it comes to mobile app stores. But telecom research firm Ovum predicts that’s set to change over the next four years, with rivals like Android and the BlackBerry poised for tremendous growth.
That change could even see Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) be unseated by Android, according to Ovum’s Mobile Application Download Forecast 2009-2015 report, which found that app stores collectively will grow by a compound annual growth rate of about 41 percent globally over the next five years, with total downloads topping 21.2 billion — up from 2.69 billion in 2009.