App Market Pegged To Be $102B Market By 2020

The fast pace of growth in the global mobile app market is expected to double its value by 2020.

In the next four years, the global revenue from mobile apps, which currently stands at $52 billion, will exceed $102 billion, a new report by business intelligence platform App Annie has found. The latest figures clock in past the $101 billion predicted by the company in February this year.

Today, developed economies, such as the U.S., Japan and Western Europe, account for over two-thirds of app store revenue, which App Annie said comes from their ability to provide for consumers in those regions through a developed infrastructure. These markets are expected to maintain a strong momentum in the coming year and will likely see a 12 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Largely, the rapid growth will be fueled by an increase in mobile usage in the Asia-Pacific region and increasing demand in EMEA and the Americas.

However, the doubling of revenue to $102 billion will be powered by rapid development in emerging economies. According to estimates, emerging markets, such as India and Brazil, will account for 40 percent growth of global app store revenue, with a 29 percent increase in CAGR revenue. Of the two, India is expected to see the fastest app store revenue growth, ahead of Brazil, which will be trailed by Argentina, Mexico and Indonesia.

Some of the areas that will be fundamental in the growth of the app market in developing countries will be health care and education.

And with growth in these markets, the app market is also expected to see a technological shift. “Developers will increasingly tap into advances in artificial intelligence, object recognition and context awareness,” App Annie said. “All these factors will help apps shift the engagement paradigm of the smartphone interface beyond elegance to relevance.”