500 million people will be using mobile health apps by 2015 -- A report by research2guidance

By Research2guidance
Smartphone applications will become the killer applications for mobile health solutions.
Although the potential benefits of mHealth solutions have been widely discussed for over a decade, the market never emerged from the trial phase. Smartphone applications will enable the mHealth industry to successfully reach out to 500m of a total 1.4bn smartphone users in 2015 the new “Global Mobile Health Market Report 2010-2015” by research2guidance says.
Ralf-Gordon Jahns, Head of Research at research2guidance, points out “Our findings indicate that the long-expected mobile revolution in healthcare is set to happen. Both healthcare providers and consumers are embracing smartphones as a means to improving healthcare.”
Not only are consumers taking advantage of smartphones to manage and improve their own health, a significant number (43%) of mHealth applications are primarily designed for healthcare professionals. These include CME (Continued Medical Education), remote monitoring and health care management applications.
Currently there are 17,000 mHealth applications in major app stores, 74% of them adhering to the paid business model. With more and more traditional healthcare providers joining the mobile applications market, the business models will broaden to include healthcare services, sensor, advertising and drug sales revenues.
“With the growing sophistication level of mHealth applications, only 14% of the total market revenue in the next 5 years will come from application download revenue” explains Egle Mikalajunaite senior research analyst. “76% of total mHealth application market revenue will come from related services and products such as sensors”.
The “Global Mobile Health Market Report 2010-2015” is a business guide for traditional healthcare companies as well as for mobile operators wishing to successfully engage into the new mHealth market.