Is it just me or is anyone else starting to get tired of all of these different mobile application stores popping up? I get that different platforms might need different stores, but one per phone platform is enough for me. After LG’s, the latest entry is Samsung’s, which Engadget says will launch on September 14th — but only for two specific Samsung handsets in the UK, France and Italy to start. The two handsets are both Windows Mobile devices and in fairness to Samsung, Microsoft hasn’t outed its Windows Mobile software storefront just yet. But what happens when they do? Why the redundancy and fragmentation? All of these mobile marketplaces are bound to confuse the consumer in the long run.
Aside from the operating system and handset makers getting in on the app store action, the carriers are doing it too. They’ve actually done this for a long time, but some — like Verizon Wireless — are renewing their efforts, based on what I read in Colin Gibbs’s 33-page GigaOm PRO briefing (subscription required) this week. In Colin’s survey of the mobile app landscape, the market looks more diluted than I originally realized. Colin offers a detailed overview of the competitive advantages and disadvantages each player faces, along with the challenges each individual app store is up against for consumer and brand awareness. I still say one platform should equal one app store tops, but then again, I like a neat and tidy space. ;)
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