It’s been two years since Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) first started selling applications for the iPhone through the App store. In that time, investors have flocked to the opportunity, pumping slightly more than $100 million into 17 companies.
The figures are being reported today by “the ChubbyBrain database,” which keeps a running tally of venture capital investments in the U.S. So, is that a lot? That question was too difficult for ChubbyBrain to wrap their minds around, but likely the answer is that the pace is falling somewhere between exorbitant and on par with the opportunity.
Given that the U.S. is facing what has been called the worst downturn since the depression and that the iPhone and App Store are completely unproven, the bets are definitely risky. But at the same time the iPhone ecosystem is receiving a lot of hype. The market has been flooded with more than 50,000 apps and more than 1 billion have been downloaded. The two biggest proponents are the Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

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