Mobile Application Stores Profile - Apple Inc.- App Store

Apple App Store - Number of Applications Downloads & Applications (Apps)

Apple App Store is a digital application distribution platform for iOS that opened in July 2008 and allow users to browse and download applications ( Apps) from iTunes Store. Applications range from business to game applications, entertainment to educational applications, and many more applications available for free or for sale.

As of April 2012, the iTunes App Store has over 600,000 apps available on Apple’s iOS platform and it added around 50,000 in previous two months. Around 200,00 apps are specially optimized for iPad. Apple tightly controls the App store and the approval process for Apps make sure quality of Apps.

According to data collected by 148Apps.biz from iTunes Store:

Total Active Apps (as per May 2012): 635,050; Total Inactive Apps (no longer available for download): 178,579; Total Apps Seen in US App Store: 813,629; Number of Active Publishers in the US App Store: 157,197

According to data collected by 148Apps.biz from iTunes Store- Most Popular Categories: Games (111,164 active); Books (63,604 active); Entertainment (63,432 active); Education (62,755 active); Lifestyle (53,420 active)

The App Store is now available to users in 123 countries and the number of app downloads reached 25 billion in March 2012. iTunes Store sells apps for iOS, as well as music, movies, podcasts and e-books, all of which contributed US$3.6 billion in first two quarters of FY 2012 and total revenues for FY 2011 is US$5.4 billion.  

According to IHS Screen Digest May 2011 research, Apple App Store expected revenue of $2.91 billion for 2011, up 63.4% from $1.78 billion in 2010. The report  further forecasted Apple App Store revenues to be  approximately $4.26 billion for 2012 (76% of Total Market) and $4.98 billion for 2014 (60% of Total Market).

Apple also said developers have made more than $4 billion from the App Store since it was launched in 2008. Apple receives a 30% cut of revenue generated by content sold through iTunes for iTunes operational costs and app developers and content makers get the remaining 70%.

Flurry Analytics reveals that Apple's App Store generates the most revenue for developers that means for every $1.00 an app generates in the App Store, it would generate $0.89 in the Amazon Appstore and $0.23 in Google Play.

According to Fiksu App Store Competitive Index which tracks the aggregate volume of downloads per day achieved by the top 200 ranked free iPhone apps in the U.S. In March 2012, the Index decreased by almost two million daily downloads - a 30% drop - to 4.45 million, down from 6.35 million in February.  

The Cost per Loyal User Index measures the cost of acquiring a loyal user for brands who proactively market their apps and for index purpose loyal users are defined as people who open an app three times or more. In March, the cost per loyal user held steady, moving less than 1 percent to $1.30, from $1.31 in February.

Post the hyper demand activity due to iPhone 4S launch in October 2011 and holiday season, dip in march 2012 is expected. Apple Policy against the use of robotic install tactics by app marketers also caused the slowdown but spending by mobile marketers was steady.

Global E-Reader Market Forecast – Decline in Growth from 2015

According to an IHS iSuppli Small & Medium Displays Market Tracker report, Shipments of monochrome e-book displays hit 27.1 million in 2011(108% YoY) from 13 million in 2010. Smaller, less expensive models with features like light weight and good battery life are driving sales. Most of the players in this segment whose models are monochrome had started adopting the color displays with touch screens in 2011 and consumer focused marketing strategy and availability of more digital content like fiction, non fiction and textbooks at affordable prices will drive growth in near future. IHS believes the players in the market have to look for new ways to attract new customers and there are growth opportunities in select vertical markets like education where the purpose of the devices will be more for reading than for other functionalities like browsing and communication.  The market will see significant growth till 2014 and will see growth decline from 2015 with tough competition from tablets. These devices are facing tough competition from tablets like Apple iPad that has significant functionality like faster browser, powerful chips for multi-media, good navigation, huge number of applications, etc. Dominant players in the market are Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony Reader, Kyobo Reader, etc.

WitsView, a research division of TrendForce forecasted color E-Readers shipments to reach 12.3 million units in 2012 from 7.4 million units in 2011. Amazon with its low-priced Kindle Fire has strongly penetrated the market which has more than 60% market share in color E-Readers market and its pricing has become a benchmark for the tablet PCs. According to Gartner, E-reader sales are expected to reach 24.3 million units in 2011, and the market is expected to peak in 2013 with sales of 28 million units and the market will start to decline from then onwards due to competition from highly functional media tablets. IDC predicted e-Reader shipments of 27 million units in 2011 a massive rise in unit shipments when compared to 12.8 million units in 2010. Analyst firm Juniper Research forecasts that eReader shipments will reach 67 million by 2016 nearly triple the 25 million devices the company expects to reach the market in 2011. According to a Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc, World e-readers market is forecast to reach 53.87 million units by the year 2017. Renub Research expects worldwide E-Reader unit sales will cross 50 Million and its market size will be over US$ 6 Billion by the end of 2014. According to the latest industry analysis from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the share of adults in the United States who own tablet computers and e-readers nearly doubled from 10% to 19% between mid-December and early January.