Mobile applications that support Google’s Android operating system are leading the wireless market with the most downloads.
In the second quarter, Android surpassed Apple’s iOS to rank as the market leader in mobile app downloads, ABI Research said. Android holds 44 percent market share, compared to 31 percent for iOS.
“Android’s open source strategy is the main factor for its success," said Lim Shiyang, a research associate with ABI Research. “Being a free platform has expanded the Android device install base, which in turn has driven growth in the number of third party multi-platform and mobile operator app stores. These conditions alone explain why Android is the new leader in the mobile application market."
ABI Research also cited another factor that helps explain Android’s mobile app success: Apple’s iPhone shipment growth in the second quarter slowed to 9 percent from 15 percent a quarter earlier while Android smartphone shipments climbed 36 percent in the quarter, up from 20 percent in the first quarter. Last week, the nation's second-largest wireless operator - AT&T - revealed that sales of Android-powered gadgets represented half of the 4.8 million smartphones the telecom titan sold in the third quarter as the number of iPhone activations declined.
Despite Android’s growth, its “app downloads per user still lag behind Apple’s by 2-to-1," according to Dan Shey, practice director of mobile services with ABI Research.
ABI Research forecasts that global app downloads will grow from 9 billion last year to 29 billion in 2011. “Such stellar increases are largely due to the proliferation of smartphones around the world," ABI Research said.
