In the recently conducted 4-day Mobile World Congress 2013, it was clear to all the Smartphone developing industries that this is going to be a highly competitive year for them. With almost every Smartphone being technically flawless, the pressure falls to the application developers. The latest ABI Research predicts that Smartphone app downloads would reach around 56 billion in 2013. According to the research data:
- ‘Android’ leads with its 58 percent share in the app world.
- In second place, there is ‘iOS’ which has a share of 33 percent.
- Windows phone has secured around a 4 percent share.
- And finally, BlackBerry is at 3 percent.
ABI also predicts a growing number of Smartphone-focused developers will adopt an Android-first strategy within the year due to the platform’s “vast installed base and the generally improved conditions in app building.” This is something that has been widely trumpeted for a while now but has yet to surface given Google’s fragmentation problem.
We can assume that Google will actually benefit from Android being the front runner in app development. Android’s open design and easily re-programmable firmware has prompted the app developers to work more extensively towards customized apps. It has provided the developers an open ground to work on. They can make their customers a more user friendly interface which can be restructured and upgraded any time. This kind of flexibility from Android has attracted a large number of people. Thus, making the Android powered Smartphone a success.
