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Study: Mobile Market About To Explode

Maybe this gives us a hint as to why Microsoft is trying so hard to get its mobile platform into working order. The market for mobile applications is about to take off like a rocket, one study says.

OK. So, the sponsor of the study is...an application store. Still, if they're anywhere close to accurate, the numbers here are pretty staggering. Check out some of these figures from the BBC story linked above, guv'na:

"A study done for Getjar, the world's second biggest app store, said the market will grow to $17.5bn (£12bn) in the next two years.

"The study claimed downloads would climb from 7bn last year to 50bn by 2012 -- a 92% year-on-year increase.

"It found there had been a gold rush with the number of app stores rising from four before 2008 to 48 today."

The study also suggests that Apple might not have a chokehold on the app-store market forever--although it's really not surprising to read that in a study sponsored by another app store. Still, the point here is that Microsoft isn't out of this thing yet. If Windows Phone 7 can capture some of the momentum that its desktop cousin has garnered, Microsoft and its partners could be in for some serious app cash in the years to come.

What we want to know now is: How do you plan to profit from this? How do partners get in on the mobile craze and generate revenue from it? We'd love to hear your stories and your plans. Send them, please, to [email protected]. And, yes, we will start running reader e-mail again someday. We promise.

Posted by Lee Pender on March 18, 2010


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