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Mobile app revenue continues to decline: research

Mobile research round-up ? Mobile app revenue continues to decline; Google?s Android to surpass Apple?s iOS; 78 percent of consumers welcome location-based ads.

Google?s Android to surpass Apple?s iOS
Google?s Android will outshine Apple?s operating system by 2012, according to iSuppli.

A recent study conducted by the company shows that Android will be used in 75 million smartphones by 2012, which is up from 5 million in 2009.

Additionally, Android?s iOS will amount to 62 million in 2012, up from 25 million in 2009 ? this will give Android a 19.4 percent share of the global market for smarpthone operating systems in 2012, up from 2.7 percent in 2009, per iSuppli.

The study also reports that Apple?s iOS for the iPhone will shrink to 15.9 percent in 2012, down from 13.8 percent in 2009.

The company foresees that in 2014, Android?s share of global smartphone usage will rise to 22.8 percent, while Apple?s will decline to 15.3 percent.

78 percent of consumers welcome location-based ads
Seventy-eight percent of consumers welcome location-based ads on their mobile devices when it can guide them to nearby retailers and offers, according to a Navteq survey.

According to the company, 78 percent of consumers are receptive to receiving ads to offset the cost of value-based content.

In addition, 42 percent of participants that were exposed to a brand recalled seeing that brand, and 31 percent who reported seeing an ad on their device clicked that ad for information to nearby locations.

Thirty-one percent of consumers who saw a specific ad went on to visit a store location and of those respondents, 53 percent said they visited a location because of that ad.

Navteq found that the most desired ads included special offers, such as offers for gas or restaurants.

Mobile app revenue continues to decline
Mobile application downloads from iOS and Android will account for 78 percent of all application downloads in 2010, but app revenue continues to decline, per an ABI Research report.

According to the company, the iPhone?s operating system will account for 52 percent of all applications.

The numbers are driven by availability, variety and novelty in both the Android market and the iTunes App Store.

Additionally, the report found that revenues from mobile application sales continue to decline and application store owners such as Google, Apple and mobile carriers will continue to support low-priced and free applications because they help market and sell their devices, according to ABI.

Businesses need multichannel measurement framework to address rapid mobile growth
Although smartphone adoption is growing, many businesses are still not effectively measuring their mobile efforts, which includes the interaction, use and enjoyment of mobile Web sites and applications.

According to ?The Mobile Measurement Framework: Making Sense of Your Mobile Efforts in the Context of Business? report, conducted by OpinionLab mobile measurement is a tough task due to the multitude of platforms, devices and privacy concerns.

However, businesses should focus on qualitative data and directing consumer and user responses.

The report focuses on a new set of metrics that can be used in the current multichannel marketplace, including measures that businesses can apply equally to mobile, Web sites and mobile applications. 

Final Take
Rimma Kats, editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer, New York