Development And Overall Use Of Mobile Apps To Skyrocket In 2010

Mobile apps are big business these days.  Even though 2009 ushered in a wave of excitement and a rush of development for mobile applications, 2010 is set to be a breakout year in terms of marketers realizing the potential and overall usage by consumers.

A new report from DM2PRO and Quattro Wireless indicate mobile app investment should grow significantly this year, while spending on social apps, however, will grow stagnate even though more marketers have already developed the applications.

The study indicated that many marketers took a “wait and see” approach in 2009 in terms of a mobile app strategy, stating fewer than one-half of marketers created either a mobile or social app in 2009.  Most of those surveyed plan to invest in a mobile app this year, however, with the iPhone being the platform of choice, followed by Android.

In terms of social compared to mobile in regards to a favorable platform for branded apps, Facebook took a demanding lead — with 79.8% of respondents utilizing the platform over others — with the iPhone a close second at 62.1%.  Surprisingly, Android and Palm tied with 9.5% of respondents favoring the new OSs.

End-user engagement was the dominating cause for a brand’s interest in using social or mobile platforms for its apps, but social sites were perceived as better for many top goals- including engagement, audience targeting, branding potential and overall reach.  Mobile scored higher on both creative control and persistence however.