mHealth apps downloads to reach 142 million in 2016

The number of global downloads of mHealth applications is expected to more than triple to 142 million by 2016, according to a new study published by Juniper Research.

Source: GSMA

The research company added that the number of mobile healthcare and medical app downloads will reach 44 million as soon as 2012. It added that the combination of smartphones and app stores has created a vibrant mHealth market.

Juniper added that there is a need for US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) clarification on which apps require approval as such a move will add further impetus to the market. This is particularly important as the US is seen as the leading market in remote patient monitoring.

"Acceptance of new healthcare practices like remote patient monitoring will come directly from consumers becoming engaged in mHealth through the smartphone," said Anthony Cox, who wrote the report.

The authors noted that future mobile hardware peripherals will greatly extend apps capabilities. They added that application peripherals hardware designed to work with mHealth apps will allow smartphones to become an important portable accessory to the healthcare establishment for both diagnosis and relaying medical data to healthcare staff.

In a separate report, published last week, ABI Research predicted that the sports and health mobile apps market will grow to over $400 million in 2016 from $120 million in 2010.

ABI Research's report, "Mobile Devices and mHealth", estimated that growth will be spurred by the ability of mobile handsets to easily connect to wearable devices that in turn can deliver new functionality, accuracy, and appeal to sports and fitness applications. 

"As applications increasingly become part of a bundle that ships with wearable devices, revenues from mobile applications will lag behind the growth in app downloads," said Jonathan Collins, principal analyst at ABI. "Mobile application downloads will actually grow at nearly twice the rate of revenues between 2010 and 2016, with more than a billion downloads annually by 2016."