iPhone Apps are no longer just driving sales for Apple and application developers. They are now starting to drive revenue for products other than the software itself. Take a look at this article to see more about this interesting trend.
One of the specific applications discussed is an application being distributed by Pizza Hut. Their application allows mobile ordering, and has already been downloaded 150,000 times since July 15th. The move to mobile business applications is gaining momentum.
Well, it’s finally here. Palm launched the Pre last Saturday, and they are now finally in direct competition with Apple and the iPhone. So which one’s better? For me, I think the verdict is still out.
By now, unless you live under a rock somewhere, I’m sure you know how successful the iPhone has been. They have sold millions of devices in the two years the phone has been out, and users have downloaded over 1 billion applications in the year since the App Store was available. Apple also broke a lot of long standing rules in the cellular industry by having the phone activated through iTunes instead of directly with AT&T, and also by funneling users through iTunes for content instead of through AT&T. The iPhone was also ground breaking in that it introduced the concept of using gestures via a touch screen to interact with the device. What they have accomplished is truly amazing.
Don’t count out Palm just yet. Palm has traditionally been very strong with “prosumers”. This is a term they coined to talk about their sweet spot in terms of users. The demographic Palm originally catered to with the Treo was professional people who purchased their own devices and used it both for work and personal purposes. Add to that the fact that they pioneered the whole smartphone segment 5 years ago, and you have a pretty accomplished competitor for Apple. The new Pre has a slick little physical keyboard, a very nice touch screen, and a gesture base user interface. Sprint says the Pre broke all of their sales records for new devices. Sounds kind of like the iPhone, doesn’t it?
I think the real battle is still to come. WebOS has some very interesting capabilities with it’s application platform. It allows applications to integrate with the web, on device information, and across applications. Of course there aren’t many applications on the device yet. It will be interesting to see what developers come up with on the Pre. Part of what has made the iPhone successful is the slew of applications that have been introduced by developers outside of Apple. I’ll be curious to see how many, and what types of applications get introduced for the Pre.
That’s right, about 20 minutes ago Apple’s App Store crossed an amazing threshold. They have now had over 1 billion applications downloaded in their first nine months of existence. This is a phenomenal feat for any company, even one with the marketing prowess of Apple. While mobile applications have been in existence for well over a decade, nobody else has generated the interest in applications that Apple and the iPhone have.
If you want a little more information on them reaching the 1 billion mark, check out this web site. There are links on that page for the top 20 paid apps, and the top 20 free apps of all time. Some of the ones that made the list are almost as amazing as the record itself. Hang on tight now. This whole “application thing” is just getting started. Congratulations, Apple!
Global Intelligence Alliance Group has just released an analysis of several app stores for mobile applications. By this time we are all very familiar with the iPhone App Store, and the fact we are so familiar with it is pretty amazing. It was launched only eight months ago, but currently boasts over 15,000 applications and surpassed 500 million downloads back in January of this year. About all you can say is “Wow!” But since that isn’t very enlightening, I’ll try to provide some observations on app stores in general.
First of all it’s important to remember that only two app stores actually exist. These are the iPhone App Store and the Android Marketplace. All the others you may have heard about like Ovi from Nokia, Skymarket from Microsoft, BlackBerry Apps Storefront, and the webOS Software Store from Palm are all just announcements right now. That’s right. You can buy any software you want from an app store as long as your smartphone is an iPhone or the G1 phone. That’s it. There are not any other choices right now today.
So why all the noise about what are essentially download sites for only two devices? Because until the iPhone App Store, if you wanted a mobile application for your smartphone, you had to either go through a carrier storefront (which tend to be limited and difficult to navigate) or hunt around the Internet for software to download from sites that may or may not be legitimate. So being able to go one trusted place for software for your device is a big deal. Add to that the fact that one of the devices has sold like no other mobile device before and you see why app stores are getting so much press.
But for all the positive press, and it is certainly well-deserved positive press, there are still some issues that need to be addressed to really free users. In no particular order some of the biggest issues are:
We are early on in this new world of app stores, and we are off to a great start. But to really unlock the potential of mobility for business users, the app store landscape will need to change to address these and other issues.
Steve Ballmer
After months of speculation and rumors about a new Microsoft smartphone, and months of Microsoft denying said speculation and rumors, Steve Ballmer finally made it clear that Microsoft will not release a smartphone.
Seems like a smart move as I really don’t hear a lot of people clamoring for one. Even so, many analysts and bloggers expected a 2009 release to compete with RIM/BlackBerry and Apple/iPhone.
Apple still has the device to beat and Ballmer seems to be happy to let them keep the current “mojo” in the consumer market. Ballmer’s strategy is to continue to build upon the Windows Mobile (actually now Windows Phones) platform and make it as compatible with as many devices as possible. Though not unique, this strategy is very different from Apple’s and RIM’s, whereby they both have a proprietary device and proprietary operating system. Stirring it up even more, Palm recently announced the Pre as well as a new mobile platform called webOS.
Historically, the proprietary device/OS strategy has worked for many mobile phone providers, but I believe this may be changing. From a business user’s perspective (me), the real value in “smartdevices” comes from the business applications (increasing productivity and reducing costs) that run on it. Highly restrictive access to the OS or having to develop across an endless sea of proprietary platforms makes it difficult for mobile application companies to create solutions that can run on every device.
I would personally like to see a handful of the best OS platforms be able to run across all the devices – and carrier networks. But I won’t hold my breath just yet.
Apple has continued to push the iPhone outside of the US. Here in America we see the iPhone as a seminal device, changing many of the rules that had been in place between device makers and carriers for many years. AT&T has been rewarded for breaking the mold with Apple. About 40% of iPhone-based subscribers are switching to AT&T from other carriers.
However, the stakes are high. Everyone is now chasing applications, and the “ownership” of who presents those applications to the user is key. In a recent article in FierceDeveloper it was revealed that talks broke down between Apple and China Mobile over who would own the interface to users for sharing applications. Here’s an excerpt from the article:
“The third and final round of negotiations ended after Apple demanded it retain control over iPhone application sales, insisting consumers purchase apps directly from the App Store.”
China Mobile has to know how wildly successful the iPhone has been and continues to be. Having the talks break down over this point reveals just how important providers think controlling access to applications is.
