ABI Research forecasts the mobile app market will reach 2013 revenues of $27 billion as apps remain the critical factor in the battle of mobile operating systems.
Unsurprisingly iOS and Android remain app leaders, while BlackBerry and Windows Phone are still "far behind" in their competition for 3rd ecosystem.
“iOS continues to lead the way, and the OS is projected to generate over 66% of the revenues for smartphone and tablet apps in 2013,” ABI says. “Although Android OS recently surpassed Apple in terms of total app numbers, iOS users continue to prove they’re more willing to depart with their cash. The revenue gap between the two leading OSes looks unlikely to close over the next 18 months.”
In an interesting point-- tablet-generated app revenues appear to be catching up with smartphones, and the analyst predicts tablet revenues will overtake smartphones by 2017. The reason? Tablet users are willing to pay more for apps, mainly due to large display sizes and a superior gaming/reading experiences.