“When Apple opened its iTunes App Store in July, the idea of a mass-market Web site that sells downloadable games, tools, and other applications for cell phones was a rarity. Handset owners could buy apps from their carriers or the occasional niche site. But these days, the app store concept is becoming commonplace,” Olga Kharif reports for BusinessWeek. “The question is, does the world need a warren of wireless app stores?”
MacDailyNews Take: iTunes. That’s the key. iTunes, with its massive and growing user base, is Apple’s huge competitive advantage.
Kharif continues, “In the coming six months, at least four would-be rivals of Apple will probably open their own online bazaars… Google has already announced its plans, while Microsoft, Symbian, and T-Mobile USA are in the likely-to camp.”
“The appeal of an app store is undeniable. Since the App Store debut, users of Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch have downloaded more than 60 million applications, sampling the more than 3,000 games, calendars, and fitness applications on offer for as much as $10 a pop, though some are available at no charge. Sales averaged $1 million a day in the first month,” Kharif reports.
“Microsoft and other owners of competing operating systems want to ensure Apple’s popularity doesn’t take a toll on their own market share. ‘People are chasing the iPhone,’ says Van Baker, an analyst at consultancy Gartner… J. Gold Associates analyst Jack Gold figures that the App Store has helped Apple sell 10% to 15% more iPhone 3Gs than the company would have sold otherwise,” Kharif reports.
“Google’s Android Marketplace faces… challenges. Google will let developers post applications to the store in a matter of minutes, without going through an approval process… But that will make it hard to vet bad, glitchy, or inappropriate applications. To weed out bad apples, the Marketplace ‘features a feedback and rating system similar to YouTube,’ according to the official Android developer blog. But users could still unwittingly download software containing viruses or malicious code damaging a phone, or simply buggy applications. Apple takes weeks to vet applications posted to its store, and rejects many,” Kharif reports.
Read more in the full article here.
” iTunes. That’s the key. iTunes, with its massive and growing user base, is Apple’s huge competitive advantage.”
Even mort than iTunes, the key to success is a consistent platform to run the programs on. Google and Microsoft are selling to an endless array of devices with an even wider array of user interfaces. Imagine the difficulty in writing one great program that is expected to run consistently on all those phones. Not a chance.
you have Apple who is working for the users and the developers. Then you have everyone else’s App Stores that will be about the profits that it might generate for their bottom line.
In the end will anyone else really get it?
Super Clippy for Windows Mobile. $9.99. Speaks Urdu, Klingon and Pig Latin. Guaranteed to be 20% more annoying or we’ll refund the purchase price in Zune points.
Well, with the iPhone itself, all the others might have a chance. As I sit here struggling with Windows VISTA and drivers trying to just freaking get sound to work, and then trying to keep an Alienware tech on the line on my iPHone, it occurs to me that using the iPhone is a very WINDOWS like experience.
Sometimes it works.
Sometimes it don’t.
Glad Apple kicks out the shit software and offensive garbage. Love that they have a grip on things. We don’t want it to be ‘free’ or ‘open’, like the press or something.
Look at the stinking mess we have today when we let ‘free speech’ run amok.
If users don’t like that Apple keeps tight control on the Apps Store, carry your ass.
“Google will let developers post applications … without going through an approval process… But that will make it hard to vet … inappropriate applications.”
Yay! Maybe we’ll get the G-Fart on Android !
“Android farts”! Heeheehee!
Oh, my sides!
Do Androids dream of electric farts?
OH! Hahaha!
Thank you. I’m here all week …
“More than 3,000 games, calendars, and fitness applications?”
I see 2,730 this morning. Unless Apple just dropped more than 270 Pull-My-Finger apps, I think that’s a bit misleading.
theloniousMac,
It’s not the iPhone, dummy, it’s the carrier.
AT&T is completely overwhelmed right now by iPhones swamping their 3G network.
So are other carriers around the world – too much data on 3G all at once – give them some time to tune/build out the networks.
“Do Androids dream of electric farts?”
No, but they do giggle and snicker when a car backfires.
@ theloniousMac
As you struggle with Vista, are you MAD???
Using the iPhone to call the M$’s helpdesk is equal to running Vista on the iPhone? or do you mean you are running Vista on a Mac and are trying to get a PC helpdesk to advise you on how it should be installed on a Mac?
Did you engage any thought process before blogging???
Or are you baiting us???
I could think of a few choice swear words to direct to you, but it would be worth nothing directed against insanity!
“To weed out bad apples, the Marketplace ‘features a feedback and rating system similar to YouTube,’ according to the official Android developer blog. But users could still unwittingly download software containing viruses or malicious code damaging a phone, or simply buggy applications.”
…or you can have a large number of malware writer user IDs “game the system” on the user feedback and ratings, providing high ratings and good feedback for a carefully crafted malware/spyware app.
There’s no financial motive behind doing something like that for YouTube, which is why it doesn’t happen there. But there’s a *huge* potential for this kind of thing happening on the Android “Market”, as there will be a lot of incentive to try and pull something like that off. How can the folks at Google not see this?
Who could have imagined back in 2001 that Apple’s little music application would one day become a major online retail portal. It’s a good thing Apple is still a “niche” player in the PC market — I could just imagine them being sued by the government for stifling competition by pre-installing iTunes on every Mac.
Don’t go giving people ideas The Oracle!
I’m glad someone mentioned Zune points which tells me you MAC sheep are seething with jealousy. Get ready for what I call the ‘Points Revolution’ brought to you by the master innovators at Microsoft. Wake up, Apple—currency and credit cards are so ’90s. Microsoft gets it. I don’t know why Apple doesn’t get it.
Espescially in these tough economic times you want to hold onto currency. Points I can spend. Money, that’s another story. Thank you, Microsoft.
Your potential. Our passion.™
There is no way, no how, no possibility that anyone will match the app store in the next five years.
1. MS, Goggle and Symbian will have too many options to support—memory, screen size, proccessor, GPS, accelerometer, wifi, etc. There are no standards for any of these options. iPhone devs have to worry about one kind of phone and that’s it.
2. Complete, end-to-end development, marketing, distribution & payment environment. No one else is even close to combing all those options with such a BIG cut for the developers.
Remember when Steve Jobs said the iTunes store was harder than it looked? Five years later and no one has been able to duplicate it. Double ditto for the app store.
I will not be surprised if the app store hits $1 billion a year from now. The iPhone would have crushed most of the competition even if Apple had kept it completely closed. The app store is going to lauch the iPhone into another galaxy.
@iPhoner
There are issues with the carrier. Those issues manifest themselves when the phone is actually working. Those issues are pertinent to 3G data operations only. When the phone can’t maintain a connection until 3G is turned off you are looking at issues that are part of the instrument itself. Moron.
“I will not be surprised if the app store hits $1 billion a year from now.”
Especially considering that the worldwide revenue for ringtones last year was approximately $7 billion. A mule and his pony are soon farted.
@crabapple
What I mean is that the iPhone’s flakyness is basically a similar experience to VISTA’s flakyness.
Please let lose with your choice swear words so that we can know for sure just how bright you are.
@iphoner
The iPhone has problems. It’s not just a carrier issue. In fact it is better for people that the iPhone be the problem than the carrier because there is a greater chance the problems will be fixed.
Consider that my phone could not maintain a voice connection until I switched off 3G. Then suddenly I had 4 bars and was able to use the phone for a 30 minute call. When I turn on 3G, all the bars go bye bye and a stable call is all but impossible.
I’ve seen this numerous times on multiple iPhones belonging to different clients.
There is of course no such problem on the original iPhone.
So when you call people “dummy” you should first know wtf you’re talking about. If you don’t know, then just be quiet. Silence is more attractive than stupidity.
I’m glad someone mentioned Zune points which tells me you MAC sheep are laughing with glee. Get ready for what I call the ‘Points Revolution’ brought to you by the master of ill designed copies of Apple innovations- MICROSOFT. Wake up, Microsoft—currency and credit cards are so right. Microsoft just will not gets it right. I don’t know why Microsoft doesn’t get it.
Espescially in these tough economic times you want to hold onto currency. Points I can never understand. Money, that’s another story. Thank you, APPLE.
Your potential. Our Blunder.™
As much as I love Apple…sheesh
If the others publish guidelines for what is acceptable and what will be pulled and provide feedback to the developers, they’ll have a good start.
Oh – and don’t forget to terminate any NDA once the product has been released so that developers can help one another and conferences about your product can occur.
Peace.
“Apple takes weeks to vet applications posted to its store, and rejects many …”
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Apple officially tell anyone how many apps it rejects out of hand. We hear the stories from a handful of developers about specific apps, but how many and what percentage of submitted apps to they reject?
Also, as a developer myself, I can tell you that Kharif is wrong in their assessment that it takes Apple “weeks” to vet applications. The normal time seems to be about four or five business days and the submitted app, if approved, appears in the store. This is a bit longer than I’d personally like but manageable. My one beef is that updates to those same approved apps take exactly the same amount of time to appear. I’d far prefer a much faster submit update to live site process to better the customer’s end experience if a bug is found.
Another excellent write-up.
You crack me up every time!
Thanks. Please keep writing.
theloniousMac
Here’s a possible explanation of 3G iPhone issues:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/08/28/the-inside-deets-on-iphone-202-and-dropped-calls/
Make sure you and your clients are all upgraded to the latest firmware. If you live in a high population density area the issue with a large amount of iPhone users on older versions of the software might also be a contributing factor.