Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Loses App Share, Still on Top

In 2009 Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) completely dominated the app market, with a 92.8 percent market share, which generated $769 million in revenue for the tech giant, according to IHS research firm iSuppli.

While Apple continues dominate the segment, they predictably lost share, as now they have a market share of 82.7 percent for apps. I say predictably because no company could continue to own that type of market share in a competitive market. That's going to be the same with tablets as well.

Even so, Apple generated more revenue from apps with less share, bringing in $1.2 billion. That's because the overall app market is growing, and its 82.7 percent share represents more users than the 92 percent just a couple of years ago.

Revenue from mobile applications rose to $2.2 billion in 2010, a 160.2 percent gain.

Jack Kent, analyst, mobile media, for IHS noted, “In 2010, competitors managed to close the gap with Apple’s iPhone in terms of providing smart phone products with compelling user interfaces. However, in terms of mobile application stores, Apple remains far ahead of the competition, with the other stores so far unable to replicate Apple’s success in generating revenue from users. Apple, in contrast, has been able to maintain advantage by leveraging its tightly controlled ecosystem."

The second place finisher behind Apple was RIM's (NASDAQ:RIMM) Blackberry App World, which had 7.7 percent of app share in 2010. Nokia (NYSE:NOK) was third with its Ovi Store, which gave them 4.9 percent market share. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) was next with a 4.7 percent share.

No comments: