“When Apple launched its App Store last summer, few imagined it would reach today’s numbers so quickly, if ever,” Steve Mollman reports for CNN.
“The store now hosts over 85,000 titles and has passed 2 billion downloads. Even Apple is surprised. Now the concept of the app store has spread like a virus among competitors,” Mollman reports. “It’s also reached seemingly unrelated industries, like automobiles and TV set-top boxes.”
“Many companies now offer something similar to the App Store, if not in whole then in part. Even if none has yet come close to Apple’s numbers — or, arguably, its design achievements — the spread of the app store idea is undeniable,” Mollman reports.
“Handset makers now offering software stores include Palm, Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, and BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion. On the platform side, Google’s Android and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile — competitors to the iPhone OS — each have an app store now” Mollman reports.
“Nintendo and Sony, the traditional powers in gaming gadgets, have also launched app stores, for their DSi and PSP handhelds, respectively. Apple is now their competitor thanks to all the iPhone games,” Mollman reports. “The chipmaker Intel announced last month that it’s setting up multiple app stores through partners like Acer and Asus to encourage independent developers to create apps for netbooks and handhelds based on its processors.”
Read more in the full article here.
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