Apps are starting to reach a benchmark peak in 2011, as analysts foresee $15 billion in revenue for the apps market.  Thanks to the 17 billion + downloads, the industry looks promising for all parties involved.  These figures are to be exceeded if Google knocks the in-app billing into shape. Operators, as well, have ended 2010 with surprising figures: Verizon made $16 million in wireless revenues in the last quarter of 2010 and Apple made $250 million in gross commission from apps themselves in the second half of 2010.

Other app stores such as Nokia’s Ovi, RIM’s App World, the Android Market and Microsoft’s Marketplace stand to increasing gains, yet Apple is on top of them all, accounting for nine of every ten app downloads worldwide.

The Mac App Store has not been out very long, but it is one of the several new marketplaces launching lately, among which we have the upcoming Amazon AppStore, among other, all of them creating reasonable opportunities for developers to distribute and monetize their software. Yesterday, Pixelmator posted on its blog that they have grossed $1 million from their Mac App Store app in just 20 days. With the launch of other similar major portals, we often hear of extreme success stories, encouraging other developers to try their hand at it as well.

Google on the other hand, is not very satisfied with apps sales, although the number of Android smartphones is steadily increasing. One possible reason for this, in Liz Gannes’ opinion might be that Google has ‘been slow to form partnerships with carriers and so far has done so only with T-Mobile USA and AT&T’. The Android platform manager, Eric Chu, reiterated that at the moment the team is totally focused on researching the market and based on this data, Google will heavily invest in merchandising, payments, discovery and downloading.

The Appcelerator report from this week reveals that the mobile app development has just taken off, and more and more competitors are giving their best in genuine creations, such as Android OS manufacturers, RIM’s PlayBook, and even HP’s webOS. It is also worth mentioning that the soon-to-be presence of Amazon’s Appstore, having taken 37 percent of the market share for developers interested in distributing apps through this portal, is on par with interest in the Mac App Store.