Gartner identifies top 10 mobile applications for 2012

Gartner has published its list of the top ten mobile applications for 2012, those applications that have the potential to disrupt markets and technologies. While Gartner’s list seems heavily inspired by mobile telephones, the rise of netbooks and increasing convergence of devices mean that the list applies equally to other portable devices. For developers (including those enrolled in the Intel Atom Developer Program), the list could be interpreted as an outline of the top market opportunities for mobile applications.

“Consumer mobile applications and services are no longer the prerogative of mobile carriers,” said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. “The increasing consumer interest in smartphones, the participation of internet players in the mobile space, and the emergence of application stores and cross-industry services are reducing the dominance of mobile carriers. Each player will influence how the application is delivered and experienced by consumers, who ultimately vote with their attention and spending power.  We predict that most users will use no more than five mobile applications at a time and most future opportunities will come from niche market ‘killer applications’.”

These killer applications for 2012 will include, Gartner believes:

1. Money transfer by SMS (regulatory challenges mean there are high entry costs here)
2. Location based services (used for activities including work, social networking and entertainment)
3. Mobile search (Gartner expects to see specialist search engines dominate, with customers turning to the best one for each search)
4. Mobile browsing (low entry costs for web-based systems mean they deliver a high return on investment)
5. Mobile health monitoring (a market still in its infancy, but particularly important where fixed network coverage is limited)
6. Mobile payment (when there are no alternatives, as an extension of online payment, and as an additional layer of authentication)
7. Near field communications (more commentary in this post, these applications will be led by the release of compatible phones)
8. Mobile advertising (important for subsidising free applications)
9. Mobile instant messaging (so far held back by price and usability problems)
10. Mobile music (going beyond the ringtone to have music for entertainment at the right price and with the right usability features)

For new platforms (including the Intel Atom Developer Program) there are clear early-mover advantages. If consumers will only use a handful of killer apps, the developers of those apps stand to benefit most, and on new platforms the most basic apps are yet to be written.