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A comment on Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 billion to record labels.

Re:Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 bil... by maxklein on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @02:40AM (#2115019)
Think about this rationally: How much software do you actively use on your computer? I use perhaps 20 types of software. In total, I may have used 50 or 60 different software in my life.

In contrast, I have about 4000 songs. One conclusion that one could make from that is that the app market will stop growing at some point because people will have the software they need. Seems like the logical step.

But I'm in the app market, and the market is not what you think it us. People are not buying utilities, they are buying consumable software. For an example of what I mean, take a look at KreciDevs android apps: http://www.kreci.net/reports/android-developer-income-report...

X-Ray Scanner

Daily Beauty Tips

Those are consumable software and they are the most popular. WP Stats, what seems like more traditional software is the least popular.

And I'm not pulling these numbers out of my arse, I write such software also, and I have 40k downloads a day. FourSquare boasts about gaining 100k users in 2 weeks - I do that in 3 days.

I believe the nature of mobile software is fundamentally different from the nature of desktop software, and that growth could indeed follow the same curve as the music store.

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Re:Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 bil... by wallflower on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @09:28AM (#2115880)
> Those are consumable software and they are the most popular.

I've heard from successful app marketers that the target audience for the App Store is 13 to 14-yr old kids, using their parents credit card on their iTunes accounts.

Apps that are better than anything Apple makes will always do well[1]. But I think we should lower our "standards", our hubris and make something of entertainment value. Something that makes 13 to 14-yr olds look cool. Because peer approval and recognition is everything at that age for most people of that age.

The App Market (Android) and App Store (iOS) and Marketplace (Windows 7) let you reach teenage consumers in a way that doesn't require much marketing, just the right product at the right time.

[1] http://www.macrumors.com/2010/12/28/camera-reaches-over-7800...

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Re:Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 bil... by eipipuz on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @03:23AM (#2115090)
I suggest you consider games into your model of the app world. Even if you are not a gamer it seems to be a strong component.
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Re:Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 bil... by whatusername on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @06:00AM (#2115375)
Don't forget that at the moment an "App" is also equivalent to a website.
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Re:Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 bil... by yakisoft on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @04:46AM (#2115268)
Apps as entertainment, for most of us probably the complete opposite of eating your own dog food.
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Re:Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 bil... by maxklein on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @06:18AM (#2115406)
Your dogfood can be in the back-end analytics systems you build.
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Re:Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 bil... by revorad on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @04:39AM (#2115250)
Are your apps mostly free or paid?
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Re:Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 bil... by maxklein on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @06:19AM (#2115408)
70% are free I think, and drive traffic to the other 30%.
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Re:Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 bil... by vijayr on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @03:34PM (#2117264)
Is there a page that has links to your apps?
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Re:Apple has paid over $2 billion to app developers, $12 bil... by vijayr on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @03:33PM (#2117260)
Is there a link that contains list of your mobile apps?
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