Apple’s iTunes App Store has captured a 12pc volume share of the mobile applications market, according to analysts, but intense competition between developers has pushed down the price of apps.
“The Apple App Store’s favourable revenue share for developers has created a tremendous buzz and fostered innovation,” said David MacQueen, wireless media expert at Strategy Analytics and author of a report entitled ‘How Apple Changed the Market for Mobile Applications’.
“This has excited consumers, inspiring an unprecedented volume of downloaded applications.”
But the downside to this popularity, MacQueen notes, is that with so many developers rushing on board, competition has become fierce, and the majority of applications are downloaded for free, or at a very low cost.
“Other handset manufacturers have reacted to Apple’s success by launching their own stores, but in the past, it has been the carriers which dominated application distribution,” MacQueen added.
“Carriers are now changing tactics, hoping to re-attract developers – leading to a rapidly changing environment where each company category has its own strengths and weaknesses,” said David Kerr, vice-president of Strategy Analytics.
“Apple has won the initial skirmishes, but the war is far from over.”
By John Kennedy
