Tag: App Store

150k apps by end of Jan

At least 22k apps were added in December. It looks like we’re on track for Jobs to announce 150k apps by the time of the tablet announcement. By one count, 147k apps have already been published to the App store.

The last 50k apps will have taken 3 months. Download rate now is about 300 apps per second.

UPDATE: Jobs announced 140k apps on Jan 27.


Game Platforms vs. iPhone

The number of games per platform. All approximate.

  • Nintendo DS 600
  • Sony PS3 600
  • Microsoft Xbox 700
  • Sony PSP 700
  • Nintendo Wii 1000
  • Google Android 3,000
  • iPhone/iPod touch 22,000

If IDC prediction of 300,000 iPhone Apps by end of next year holds and if the ratio is preserved at about 20% games, then there could be 60,000 games on the Apple platform by next year. It’s doubtful that the other platforms will grow by more than 10% in the same time frame. Are there any implications if one game platform has more titles than another? It’s interesting that all the other platforms are in the same order of magnitude.

source:http://www.macworld.com/article/144725/2009/12/appstore.html?lsrc=rss_main


On App Store as a Content Store

The implications of the new app transaction model are profound. To begin with, consider the following:

  • 10 MB limit – Devs can now get their apps under 10MB much more easily. This allows them to take advantage of users downloading over the carrier networks and not wi-fi. They can offer more content via in app purchase and make up the difference.
  • Rankings – It will be curious to see how Apple changes the rankings over time. “Top Paid” and “Top Free” just don’t really don’t make sense anymore with this model. Will they make “Top Freemium” or something equivalent?
  • Infrastructure – Developers have to deal with content delivery and updates to that content. Apple handles the transaction in the normal fashion and takes their 30% but then they leave it up to the developers to actually get the content to the iPhone. What if there is a bug in the content? The developer has to deal with making sure the user is notified of the update and then initiate the update.
  • Piracy – There has been a lot of talk about how this may help fight piracy but I think the numbers will tell a different story.
  • Apps as content – The deeper story relates to the transformation of the app store into a content store. I made that prediction a year ago but had no idea how it would happen. In the long term I expect Apple to merge the iTunes music/video content management system with the app store content management. This way you could buy music/video/books/games from within an app and have it available through your iTunes UI.
  • Addiction – “Apping” as the activity of using iPhone apps has come to be known, is already something that did not exist a year ago but has proven to be wildly useful/common/profitable. Only a year has passed and we are already in the realm of uncharted waters.