Less than 0.01 per cent of consumer mobile apps will be considered a financial success by their developers between now and the end of 2018.

Thats according to Gartner, which says that around 90 per cent of paid-for apps receive less than 500 downloads, and less than $1,250 in revenues, each day. The analyst predicts that, by 2017, free apps will account for 94.5 per cent of downloads.

“The vast number of mobile apps may imply that mobile is a new revenue stream that will bring riches to many,” said Gartner VP Ken Dulaney. “However, our analysis shows that most apps are not generating profits and that many apps are not designed to generate revenue, but rather are used to build brand recognition and product awareness or are just for fun.”

Gartner also forecasts that, by 2017, half of new web apps will involve complex client-side JavaScript, as the mobile browser evolves from a thin rendering engine to a sophisticated app delivery platform, which will drive increasing interest in HTML5 as a platform-neutral technology.