It’s the season of Top 10 lists as we wind down 2010 and look ahead to 2011. While the MMA and others are busy publishing their top 10 predictions and trends for the year ahead, mobile ad-exchange Mobclix is reflecting on the last 12 months with its “2010 App Game Changers” list.
On the heels of IDC publishing a report predicting nearly 76.9 billion mobile app downloads by 2014, Mobclix said that “while future predictions are great to consider, it’s always valuable to take a look back at what actually happened over the past year.” Mobile app usage has surged in the past 12 months, and while the debate between mobile apps and the mobile Web rages on, there were still some defining trends that emerged in 2010.
Here’s the top 10 mobile app trends of 2010 according to Mobclix:
1. The Platform War Gets Bloody – Android impressions on the Mobclix Exchange has grown by 420% since its inception, 2010 will go down as the beginning of the smartphone wars.
2. In-App Purchasing, Enabling a New Economy– Developers have seen that free apps with in-app purchasing, are reaching more users and increasing revenue dramatically. In-game purchases are expected to surpass $11 billion by 2015, according to Jupiter Research.
3. Advertising on Mobile Gets Smart – Real-Time Bidding hit the mobile app market this year; RTB inventory is expected to make up 10% – 15% of total ad buys for 2011.
4. Apps Aren’t a One Trick Pony – Constantly re-engaging with users has proven to be successful; Angry Birds launches an update to their app every four weeks and sees an 80% retention rate.
5. It Pays to Be Pushy – Customer retention is 2.7x better with push-notification; Apps are opened up to 228% more and weekly session times have increased by 103%. (Source: Mobclix survey)
6. Rich Media Ads Pay More – The launch of iAd this year magnified the importance for marketers to have a more engaging user experience; approximately 37% of impressions on the Mobclix exchange were for Rich Media units, a 115% increase over 2009.
7. Games Are King – Games have become the most popular category of apps; 70% of the chart-topping applications—in both usage and gross revenue—are games.
8. Apps Are Here to Stay – The success with mobile apps has led to the expansion to other product lines, such as TV’s, desktops, Blu Ray players and even web browsers. Google, Apple and Samsung all released their own TV systems this year
9. Apps Are Everywhere – Apps have become part of our daily life; the average smartphone user spends 2.8 hours/day using applications and 3 in 5 people first turn to an app before searching the web. (Source: Mobclix survey)
10. Don’t Underestimate iCurrency – Apple has driven over 10 billion downloads of digital content through iTunes, and delivered over $1B dollars in earnings to developers. With apps penetrating all areas of our lives, we’ll be spending a lot more iCurrency. (Source: Apple Insider)
You can find the full report here.
