After recently hitting the 15 billion app download mark, analysts say that downloads from Apple’s App Store will increase 61 percent this year, while the selling price of apps will also be up by 14 percent.
Analysts Piper Jaffray and Gene Munster said that the new numbers from their latest App Store model reflect announcement of Apple last week that more than 15 billion apps have been downloaded by 200 million iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users.
Munster said that the normal iOS user will download 83 apps in 2011, up from last year’s 51.
“We believe this trend points to the increasing importance of an app store with a broad selection of tested apps to drive device sales,” Munster wrote in the report. “Smartphone users are showing an increasing appetite to use apps to add features to their phones, and iOS has the leading app ecosystem.”
The App Store model of Piper Jiffray also indicates that the average selling prices of apps are going to increase in 2011. Munster said that his data shows that prices have gone up 14 percent year-over-year in 2011, compared to the 18 percent decline last year.
Apple’s advantage over its rivals continues to be the number of apps available on its iTunes App Store, which has over 425,000 apps, compared to the Android Market’s 200,000. Last May, Google announced it crossed the 4.5 billion download mark.
Still, majority of downloads come from free apps. Munster said that 82 percent of the total apps in the App Store are free.
via: Ubergizmo
