subject: Apple App Store: The Success Story And The Ideal To Follow [print this page] Apple released its iPad almost two years ago and almost resulted into a frenzied competition between electronic gadget makers to release their own version of tablet PCs mimicking the iPad. The surge in the count of consumer tablets making a dash into the market also accompanied a tremendous interest towards iPad application development. The tablet application development industry is growing at an tantalizing pace and worth billions of dollars today. iPad and iPad apps development has been a tremendous success and a major share goes to the inventiveness of Apples App Store.
Whats is the Success Mantra Apple?
Everyones looking to find out Apples magic formula for its success. Dutch research firm Distimo spent a significant amount of its time in tracking the mobile apps that are developed for and distributed through Apple's online App Store along with other marketplaces run by Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Samsung etc. After a thorough research Distimo analyst Gert Jan Spriensma has come up a comprehensive review of Apple's methods for growing its base of apps available for the tablet through three generations of iPads.
The Research and the Findings:
Broadly there are two categories of applications: One is Tablet apps built specifically for the tablet and the others are "universal" apps that also work on the iPhone. The rate at which universal apps are being added to the App Store is currently much higher compared to iPad apps.
The apps can be further categorized the apps into paid apps versus free apps. The research revealed that Apple has rolled out greater and growing number of available tablet apps that far exceeds that of Microsofts Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.
Apple's App Store for iPad has grown in similar lines compared to that for iPhone, but still has some key differences. iPad apps feature in-app purchase more compared to iPhone apps do. The research shows that 10 percent of all iPad apps use in-app purchases whereas for iPhone Apps Development its 6 percent. Additionally, among the top 200 highest-grossing apps for the iPad, the rate even goes up to 74 percent.
The top 100 highest-grossing paid apps of iPads are news apps. Today, established news brands like The New York Times and New Yorker are pulling in more than $70,000 a day. The research reveals that for non-tablet devices, free apps still outpace paid apps in app categories like Weather, News and Entertainment. The primary target market for iPad App Store is US, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It is the third-largest online mobile app distributor today, trailing behind iPhone App Store and Google Play.
