Mobile casinos boost app sales
Mobile casinos

Mobile apps sales are on a steady rise, as mobile entertainment and mobile casinos are creating more and more loyal followers.

According to the latest reports, sales of mobile applications, including both entertainment content and mobile casino games are up 77 percent this year and will amount to roughly $3.8 billion. The biggest slice of that pie was snatched by Apple’s App Store with close to $3 billion. The Android Market firmly holds the number two spot with over $420 million in sales.

Apple’s lead is attributed to an increase in application-based purchases, which include sales within paid apps such as additional bonus levels and various tools to enhance the player’s mobile gaming experience. Apple iPhone casinos, made a solid contribution to the overall growth rate with exceptional sales figures and a record breaking jump in player numbers.

Analysts forecast even higher growth rates of sales in the Android Market, which could take Apple’s App Store market share down to 60 percent by 2014. Android App sales already overtook both Apple and Blackberry in the American market.

RIM’s BlackBerry App World is showing a considerable growth of almost 70 percent in Q1 2011. However, its market share is only third behind Apple and Android, with revenues close to $300 million. Nokia Ovi Store is lagging behind the big boys with just over $200 million in sales.

Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace is expected to grab considerable market share in the near future, yet experts agree that it’s not yet a worthy competitor. The recent partnership with Nokia will quickly allow Microsoft to make its presence felt in the highly lucrative mobile casino software sector.

Overall the future of the mobile applications market looks very bright indeed. Experts forecast revenues to increase steadily and hit the $8 billion mark in 2014. Jack Kent, the HIS Inc. senior mobile media analyst, had the following comments: “With consumers continuing to show robust, unflagging interest in downloading games and other applications to devices like smartphones and tablets, collective revenues from the four stores will climb sharply.”