Despite 861.5 Percent Growth, Android Market Revenues Remain Puny

You read the headline “Android Market grows a staggering 861.5 per cent”, and you think, “Wow, Android is really on a tear.” But then you look at the fine print, and you realize that Android Market revenues are still barely registering, and that the only reason they grew so much in 2010 was because in 2009 they were nearly non-existent.

According to a chart making the rounds from UK-based research firm IHS, Android Market revenues in 2010 came in at an estimated $102 million, up from $11 million the year before.

And how did that compare to revenues from Apple’s App Store? Apple App Store revenues came in at an estimated $1.7 billion in 2010, almost 20 times bigger than Android. And Apple App Store revenue grew at a not-too-shabby 131.9 percent rate. More importantly, Apple accounts for 83 percent of the total estimated app store revenues.

It’s great that Android app store revenues are growing so fast, but whenever you see such sky-high numbers, be sure to look at what is the base they are growing from. Android will have to keep growing at astounding rates for a few more years simply to catch up to where Apple’s App Store is today.

If you are an app developer trying to make money, you still really don’t have much of a choice about where to put your apps. No wonder Apple feels like it can treat app developers any way it wants, and take an increasing percentage of their revenues.

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RealNetworks CEO Bob Kimball: “The Real Player Is Only 10 Percent Of Our Business” (TCTV)

I caught up with Bob Kimball and Peter Kellogg-Smith, respectively the chief executive and VP of emerging products at RealNetworks, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Like most people, I knew Real mostly from their media player and their former subsidiary Rhapsody (they still own 47 percent of that business), but I must admit I was only vaguely familiar with their other activities.

Kimball pointed out to me that the media player currently represents merely 10 percent of Real’s business, with the majority of revenues actually coming from products and services it provides to mobile operators worldwide and its booming casual gaming operations (already a $111 million business and growing).

At the Congress, the company, which significantly downscaled operations last year, previewed its new digital media management service Unifi. It hasn’t publicly launched yet, so I won’t elaborate too much about it, but suffice to say I think it could easily become a great, popular product, if they can get the pricing right.

Expect a full review of Unifi as soon as it launches.

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Philips Predicts LEDs Will Take 50 Percent Of Lighting Market By 2015

Today, Philips announced that their Philips Ambient LED 12.5 watt light bulb — which gives off as much light as incandescent 60 watt bulbs, using less energy — attained Energy Star qualifications. It’s the first LED light bulb of this type to gain approval in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsored program. Energy Star sanctioned products are usually eligible for utility rebate programs that can lower the cost of a product for consumers, while allowing a company to keep their margins strong.

According to Philips, its bulb lasts 25 times longer and uses 80 percent less energy than the 60 watt incandescent bulb it was designed to replace. A company press statement reported that in order to obtain the Energy Star label, its LED bulb had to demonstrate a minimum light output of 800 lumens, a color temperature of 2700K (for soft white light), color rendering index (CRI) of 80 and a minimum three-year warranty; it actually offers 806 lumens, 2700K, a CRI of 80 and a six-year warranty. The bulbs are currently selling at Home Depot for $39.97.

A Philips company representative told TechCrunch the bulbs are also recyclable. The lighting corporation wasn’t issuing predictions about how much the Energy Star qualification would drive sales of its Ambient 12.5 watt bulbs. More macroscopically, however, Philips predicts LEDs will take 50 percent of the residential lighting market by 2015.

Other companies are sure to follow in Philips’ footsteps, from large and medium-sized businesses like Cree (NASDAQ: CREE) and the Lighting Science Group Corporation (OTCB: LSCG) to younger startups like Bridgelux.

The Durham, N.C.-based Cree now has a demonstration 60 watt incandescent replacement LED bulb — the TrueWhite Light — that the company claims is the industry’s brightest and most efficient, and meets Energy Star performance criteria. A company spokesperson said Tuesday that Cree submitted it to an independent testing facility, with testing on track to be completed by the fall. (Energy Star doesn’t test bulbs for certification.)

Meanwhile, LSCG has an Energy Star approved line, called DEFINITY. Bulbs in this line, the company announced today, have been installed in Yankee Candle Stores throughout New England. LSCG claims these are approximately 80% more efficient than the halogen bulbs that they replace, are “dimmable,” contain no mercury, and are completely recyclable. Yankee Candle received rebates from National Grid and Western Mass Electric Company through the Mass Save program, and other electric utility companies throughout New England.

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