Purchases from Apple's App Store are expected to grow 61 percent this year as more and more consumers look for a rewarding app store experience when buying a new device, according to a Monday report.
The average iOS device user will download 83 apps in 2011, up 61 percent from 51 in 2010, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a note to investors.
"We believe this trend points to the increasing importance of an app store with a broad selection of tested apps to drive device sales," Munster wrote. "Smartphone users are showing an increasing appetite to use apps to add features to their phones, and iOS has the leading app ecosystem."
Those downloads will also include paid apps; app purchases are expected to jump 14 percent this year after an 18 percent drop in 2010. "After the initial race to the bottom in App Store pricing, we are seeing users pay up to add features and games to their iOS devices," Munster wrote.
According to Piper Jaffray analysis, about 82 percent of App Store apps are free and 18 percent are paid, with an average selling price of $1.44.
"The App Store ... brings new features to Apple's iOS devices and creates a virtuous cycle driving sales of iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches," Munster concluded.
Last week, Apple announced that its App Store had topped the 15 billion download mark. At this point, there are 425,000 apps in the App Store, and 100,000 native iPad apps, available in 90 countries.
Also last week, research firm In-Stat offered some long-term outlook on tablet applications with a forecast for five-year growth of total worldwide tablet app downloads from under 1 billion in 2011 to more than 11 billion in 2015.
The content of Apple's App Store might be helping it attract buyers, but what about the name? Apple is currently battling Amazon and Microsoft for the exclusive right to use "app store." Amazon and Microsoft argue that the term is generic, but Apple said it holds the rights and efforts like Amazon's AppStore hurt its brand. So far, Apple is not having too much luck; a judge recently denied Apple's request for an injunction against Amazon. But that hasn't stopped Apple from taking that battle to smaller companies.
