Mobile apps predicted to raise US$29 billion by 2013

Posted by Alisa Zykova on January 22, 2010 at 9:16 AM

According to a report by business research firm Gartner, sales of mobile phone applications are predicted to raise more than US$6 billion in 2010, CMSWire wrote Tuesday. By 2013, the figure is expected to reach US$29 billion. This year, an estimated 4,500 applications may be downloaded, compared to 2,500 in 2009.

UK newspaper The Guardian announced that it sold 68,979 copies of its premium iPhone application that it launched in December. Each one costs around US$3.99, which amounts to about US$275,000 so far. The outlet can earn up to US$3.2 million per year, according to CMSWire.

Even though a number of newspapers are starting to charge for online content, an Adweek Media/Harris poll revealed that the model "seems unlikely to work" since 77 percent of adults said they would refuse to pay for a news site's content. One out of five adults said they would pay between US$1 and US$10 per month while only 5 percent said they would pay more than US$10 per month, according to the study.

However, experts point out that the number of people willing to pay increases when the content is unique or especially timely, such as financial content or very local content.