The Mobile App Industry is Surging with over 50 Billion Downloads Projected by 2012

It's no secret that the mobile industry is surging at an astronomical rate. According to a report by GetJar, the industry will be worth $17.5 billion by 2012. Make no mistake, this is an industry being driven by apps that sell for between $0.99 and $2.99 on average. The industry as such has attracted capital investment as well as growing exposure in popular culture.

GetJar estimates that mobile phone users will download approximately 50 billion applications in 2012 (majority of them being free apps of course) which is a 92% yer over year growth rate from the 7 billion apps that were downloaded in 2009. The platforms that deliver these apps are led in 2010 by the iPhone's 30% market share followed by the aggressively growing Androids 23% market share. The iPad has already taken 21% and RIM following with 12%. Windows mobile is still chasing from a distance with only 6%, however once they iron out the issues with Windows phone 7 and their "app store" it's probably a safe bet to say they'll take a larger market share.

In terms of market potential, according to investment firm Rutberg & Company the mobile app industry attracted over $600 million in capital investment. That was close to 10% of all investment into the mobile industry which was $6.1 billion. What's interesting is that that figure is close to triple the figure from 2009 of $2.1 billion in total mobile investments.

Apps are becoming more and more a part of everyday life, on the metro, bus, in the office and generally anywhere humans gather, you'll see people with both hands on their smartphone fully engaged. This is even transitioning over to desktop PC's. According to editor in chief of Macworld Group Mark Hattersley "From the customer point of view, programs have never been that exciting, but apps are so easy to put on or take off your system that it actually feels good." What users will ultimately be looking for are simple apps to make life simpler. With over 300,000 apps in Apple's App Store alone, this is a message that's safe to say has been well received.