Comments on: 2 Billion iPhone Apps Downloaded, Apple Says

By: Jukka

Jukka — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:23:55 +0000

For a contrary view to the predominant, US-centric view posed here and quite too often by the analysts and journalists, read “iPhone’s global success is more marketing myth than reality” here http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/iPhones-global-success-is-more-marketing-myth-than-reality/1254361557

By: JimA

JimA — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:25:13 +0000

I’ve downloaded more than 100 aps but now only use Showtimes, NeuroMobile and a few news readers. If this usage pattern projects to others not many apps are used regularly. I have yet to find any data on usage. The 85K number seems inflated.

By: Gp Webs

Gp Webs — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:43:54 +0000

god lock in is good for business !! I hope Android marketplace will kicks butt out of iphone in 2010

By: RobM

RobM — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:17:20 +0000

FUD – Apple have explicitly said that these download numbers DO NOT include updates!

By: terrabarnes

terrabarnes — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:30:18 +0000

I agree i’d say a good percentage of the apps in the app store are completely useless. How many apps have you downloaded, used once, and never touched again?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:58:21 +0000

of course you’re going to see continued exponential growth here in this stat because they count an update to an existing app as a download….

By: Curtis

Curtis — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:39:29 +0000

I think Chris makes the key point. Volume, in this case, is actually near meaningless. The App store has huge numbers of applications similiar to the desktop software market in the mid to late 90′s. Awareness, discoverability, and reuse value were decimated with the only winner being……. Microsoft.

I think when smartphone browsers provide a very rich user experience for a critical mass of phones in the market, Apple’s App Store, as well as all the others will fall by the wayside leaving developer roadkill worldwide.

Developers should be fighting the problems of awareness, discoverability, and reuse with killer Internet applications and services, not thin clients with the life expectancy of flies.

My $.02.

Best,

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:14:44 +0000

Thanks Ouriel. That helps. Appreciate it.

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:13:40 +0000

Just to be clear about my comment about how Microsoft responds, I am thinking when they introduce the new WinMo 7 and the much rumored Zune Phone.

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:40:21 +0000

I’m not sure WinMo7 is going to matter in terms of apps. I thought Microsoft would have more apps than most platforms, but just saw their own press release from February of this year. When they announced their app store, they said there were over 20,000 apps for Windows Mobile: https://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/feb09/02-16MWCPR.mspx

I then saw their press release from when they introduced WinMo 5.0. Back then they said they had 18,000 apps. Yikes!

By: Ouriel OHAYON

Ouriel OHAYON — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:39:58 +0000

Arjun you can check the report we issued a few weeks ago that estimates that

http://www.slideshare.net/misteroo/appsfire-app-store-market-real-data-insights

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:13:11 +0000

The only response to innovation is …innovation. So there will *never* be a response from Microsoft.

By: Chris R

Chris R — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:53:19 +0000

How many of those 85,000 apps are actually worth anything? Don’t get me wrong, I wish Apple well and all… it is more a question of curiosity.

It seems like most of those apps have no real value (remember shaking baby). How many of the 2 billion apps were given away for free?

By: Ted T.

Ted T. — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:05:16 +0000

“interesting to see how Microsoft responds”. Microsoft has had two years and nine months since the iPhone announcement and demo at Macworld 2007. If with all their essentially limitless resources they haven’t responded yet (heck, even near bankrupt Palm managed to respond), they never will. Sure, they’ll release WinMo 6.5. and 7, but they will be lucky if they can compete with Android and WebOS. Forget about the iPhone — that ship has sailed.

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:02:08 +0000

Todd,

I think we can’t expect Steve to say anything other than what he said. I mean, he can’t say that WinMo is screwed :-)

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:01:22 +0000

Arjun

We had some stats in the past, but nothing *official* from Apple just yet.