Mobile App Development Grows Sharply

The number of mobile applications developed by advertisers/marketers in 2010 increased significantly year-over-year, according to a new report from Millennial Media.

Major Increase in Advertisers Developing 20-50 Apps

When asked the number of mobile applications they developed in 2010 compared to 2009, advertisers participating in “State of the Apps Industry 2010″ stated growth in every area. In particular, advertisers developing 20-50 apps stated an astounding jump 1,975% jump from four in 2009 to 83 in 2010.

Conversely, the number of advertisers who did not develop a single application decreased 42% year-over-year (from 19 in 2009 to 11 in 2010).

Entertainment Top App-building Vertical

In 2009, CPG, Retail, Auto, Entertainment and Financial companies were the top five verticals building apps. In 2010, however, Entertainment displaced CPG to claim the number one spot, followed by Technology, Media, and Retail.

CPG remained in the top five at number five, while retail fell from number two to number four. Auto and financial were displaced by media and technology (debuting strongly at number two in 2010).

Android, iPad Lead Growth in Advertiser App Development Platforms

From 2009 to 2010, Android (180%) and iPad (0 to 35, year-over-year growth percentage cannot be calculated) saw the most significant growth as the application platforms used by advertisers.

iPhone still leads the pack with 73 developers and about 18% growth, but RIM, Windows Mobile, and Symbian also saw increases, as advertisers continued to diversify their application platforms.

Android, iPad also Lead Publisher Growth

Among publishers, Android, iPad, Windows Mobile, and Symbian also grew year-over-year from 2009 to 2010. Again, Android (71%) and iPad (60%) saw rapid acceptance by publishers, and efforts were focused on developing applications for these players.

Meanwhile, iPhone (2% negative growth but still the leading platform, used by 46 publishers) and Palm (21%) were the two platforms that saw year-over-year decreases.

Reach Top Consideration for Choosing a Platform

Millenial Media ranks the top five considerations for choosing a mobile application development platform by both advertisers and publishers as follows:
1. Reach
2. Demo
3. Better Branding
4. Ease of Use
5. Higher Sales Potential

2 in 3 Mobile Users Text

In the three-month average ending September 2010, 67% of US mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, according to comScore, up 1.4 percentage points compared to the prior three-month period.

Meanwhile, browsers were used by 35.1% of US mobile subscribers (up 2.2 percentage points). Subscribers who used downloaded applications comprised 33.1% of the mobile audience, representing an increase of 2.5 percentage points. Accessing of social networking sites or blogs increased 1.8 percentage points, representing 23.2% of mobile subscribers. Playing games represented 23.1% of the mobile audience (up 0.5 percentage points), while listening to music increased 0.8 percentage points, representing 15.2% of subscribers.