On Friday, the market intelligence experts at Strategy Analytics published an insightful new report indicating that the average selling price of paid downloads is declining across every major platform.
Driving prices downward, naturally, is increased competition – although when you look at Apple’s market share of paid app download revenue, you would be hard-pressed to think that there’s much competition out there at all today.
The iPhone maker currently is on pace to control better than 50% of all paid app download revenue for 2012.
With digital content more popular and profitable than ever, storefronts, carriers, and developers are increasingly looking to virtual goods – an industry which will quintuple in size from 2011 to more than $1 billion in 2012.
“The introduction of tablets from Amazon and Barnes and Noble and a renewed push for Windows Phone ensure an intensifying battle for the third horse in the apps ecosystem race,” says Josh Martin, Director of Apps Research at Strategy Analytics.
“Unlike paid downloads that offer one time payment,” he says, “virtual goods allow developers to earn recurring revenue from heavily used apps making the business opportunity appealing. Despite the importance of virtual goods, few platforms beyond the leaders have stepped up. Thus, Android and Apple may well dominate into the future.”