Apps vs. CDs

WHAT’S APP-ENING: Looks like Apple has started another techno-fiscal revolution. Mobile apps will outsell CDs by 2012, according to a report from Chetan Sharma Consulting. It’s worth noting, however, that the study was done on behalf of mobile apps download service GetJar. The study predicts that app downloads will increase from current annual levels of more than 7 billion to nearly 50 billion by 2012, when their revenue of $17.5 billion would eclipse that of CDs ($13.8 billion). "With the consumer appetite for mobile apps rocketing, the opportunities for developers are huge," sad GetJar CEO Ilja Laurs. The number of app stores also increased from eight to 38 last year—a trend Laurs believes soon will be reversed. "There is no way that this many app stores will survive in the long term and while the value of the global app economy is set to be astoundingly high by 2012, we think only a few app stores will share this revenue." (3/18a)