The Strategy Analytics App Ecosystem Opportunities (AEO) forecast, “Mobile Apps Download Forecast: 2008 – 2017," predicts that between 2008 and 2017 paid downloads will generate more than $57 billion globally. However, paid apps will begin to decline as free apps come to represent more than 91 percent of all downloads by 2017. As the percentage of free app downloads continues to grow, the average selling price of all downloaded apps (free and paid) will drop to just 8 US cents for smartphone apps by 2017. The decline in revenue and increase in app store maintenance costs — including app approval personnel, marketing and other maintenance costs — may force app stores to consider new revenue streams or higher revenue splits.
