Apple has now set its sights on being able to patent the word ‘app’ to use exclusively for its App Store, after a report by Forrester Research has predicted that the app market will be valued at more than a $38 billion industry by 2015.
Firing this speedy growth is the fast rise in popularity of everything mobile. Apps can be used on everything from tablets to Smartphones, and will continue to be featured in upcoming mobile devices such as the iPad 2.
According to PriceRunner, at the time of writing, Apple boasts more than 350 000 apps on its App Store website, ensuring that competitors are left struggling to keep up.
Running behind Apple’s App Store are others like BlackBerry’s App World, Microsoft’s App Marketplace, then there’s Google’s Android Market and of course, HP’s Palm App Catalogue. Unfortunately, for the competitors, Apple clearly remains in the lead with a hold on more than 82 per cent of the market share.
The report also claims that “The explosion of app development that started on the iPhone only scratches the surface of what is about to emerge.”
The word ‘App’ was named Word of the Year for 2010, and applications for smartphones such as the iPhone have grown hugely in popularity over the year, especially amongst the 18-30 demographic. Apple surpassed the one million-download mark within the first 30 days of this year, and it seems inevitable that the surge in app users will continue throughout 2011.
