Why the Mobile App Economy Will Keep Growing

Why the Mobile App Economy Will Keep Growing:

Since smartphones burst onto the scene they have quickly become a mainstay in many people’s lives. As smartphone usage increases and evolves consumers see mobile applications as the future of communication, information, commerce, and more. In fact a study that was released recently found that out of the 3,282 smartphone users use their phones for three basic functions: basic communication, checking news, sports, or weather, and social network usage. Of the users surveyed over forty percent believed that their phone activities would increase across fourteen different areas including travel and healthcare management.

This spells out good news for both software developers and hardware makers alike. What this means to hardware developers is a constant need to improve on handsets as consumers are always looking for a newer better product to conduct their business, especially as the cycle through phones and contracts. This also validates the app economy, even though some question the value of OS specific software. These nay-sayers question the value of apps versus a mobile website.

Behind the mobile applications versus websites brawl are the concepts of simplicity and utility. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a global professional services firm, recently released a report on the growing app economy. In the report the PwC printed some of their findings from a survey which quoted one respondent aged 30 – 45 as saying, “There are more and more apps. There’s an app for everything that you do … It makes everything easier.” Another respondent aged 21 – 29 stated, “They are quicker and easier. The only reason I ever use a browser is to Google stuff.”

The PwC believes that mobile store front apps are one key area that will see sizable growth. This is because of consumers’ poor experience with web based buying and an increased comfort with making purchases from their smartphones. They found that the main reasons that consumers do not do more of their purchasing on smartphones are small screen size making it difficult to see what you are purchasing and the information that you are inputting. Another concern for consumers is the security issues that may arise.

Given people propensity for single purpose apps there is no reason to believe that apps are not here to stay. They are sure to not only grow in numbers but in purpose as well. Combining this with the increasing number of mobile device users and constant improvements on mobile broadband networks makes it easy to see why the mobile app economy has and will continue to prosper.

With this proof positive that the app economy is and will continue to grow there is no better time to start creating apps. By working with an experienced team of it developers and learning how to create a solid and sustainable mobile application your odds are higher to beat out the competition. It is believed that if the trends keep going there will be as many as 44 million apps available for download across multiple platforms by 2016.