iPhone and iPad users sure do love their apps.
Apple, which continues to dominate the app market, is expected to earn 53 percent of all paid smartphone and tablet app download revenue this year, according to market and research consulting firm Strategy Analytics.
Android is expected to come in second in terms of market share for app downloads, Strategy Analytics predicted. Interestingly, two app platorms – Amazon and Barnes and Noble – are expected to fight Microsoft for third place.
“The introduction of tablets from Amazon and Barnes and Noble and a renewed push for Windows Phone ensure an intensifying battle for the third-horse in the apps ecosystem race,” Josh Martin, director of apps research at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the average selling price of paid app downloads is declining across every major platform, Strategy Analytics said. To offset these losses, carriers and developers are turning to virtual goods, which unlike one-time paid downloads allow developers to earn recurring revenue. The market for virtual goods is expected to quintuple this year to more than $1 billion. Apple and Android have both been early movers in the virtual goods space, likely giving them a leg-up on competitors.
“Despite the importance of virtual goods, few platforms beyond the leaders have stepped up,” Martin said.
Users overall are expected to download a staggering 41 billion apps for their phones and tablets this year, according to Strategy Analytics.
Though there are more smartphone users on Android-based devices than iPhones in the U.S., Apple's App Store for iPhone generates four times as much revenue than the Google Android Market, according to a recent report from Distimo.
Apple is also leading competitors when it comes to tablet app downloads. Since its launch of the original iPad in 2010, users of the wildly popular tablet have downloaded a staggering 3 billion apps, according to technology research firm ABI Research. In contrast, those with Android-powered tablets have only downloaded around 440 million apps.
The just-passed holiday season was a boon for app downloads. According to data from mobile analytics firm Flurry, people downloaded 1.2 billion iOS and Android apps between Dec. 25 and Dec. 31, a 60 percent increase compared to earlier in the month.