If you break down the math as it stands, Android is a rather profitable enterprise for Google with a per user revenue of about $5.900 based on advertising. Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray believes that by 2012 the number could increase to $9.85 per user. He projects Android will have 133 million users by that time. If you do the math, it works out to a cool $1.3 billion in the coffers of Google. Munster adds that the number could be boosted even higher thanks to in-app advertising via the Android Market.
You’ll remember Eric Schmidt last summer spoke about Android becoming a $10 billion business through advertising alone. Schmidt pointed to the $10 per user figure, but his numbers require one billion Android users, a figure that seems a bit out of reach at the current time. Still, Google will definitely rake it in over the next few years thanks to their investment in the mobile OS.


[via Forbes]
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