Today Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s App Store celebrates 6 years. The popular iOS app store now offers about 1 million apps. Since its launch in 2008, Apple’s world of apps has transformed the entire world of apps.
A look at Apple App Store’s future
Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett believes total app sales from the App Store could reach a total of $100 billion by 2020. It is an important to point out that app downloads only make a small percentage of the app economy. A larger segment included hardware, subscriptions, and services.
The App Store’s biggest competitor is Google Play, Android’s version of a media store. There are currently 1.2 mllion apps in the App Store and 1.5 millon in Google Play. This year, the number of app downloads from Google Play exceeded the number of App Store. This can be attributed to the emerging markets in Russia and Brazil. Not surprisingly, Apple makes more from the apps. In 2013, the platform generated over twice the revenue for developers. Apple customers are generally more affluent that Android customers and often have extra income to spend on apps.
App Store and Google Play
The one thing App Store and Google Play have in common is games. Popular game titles for mobile platforms include Puzzle & Dragons, Candy Crush Saga, and Simpsons. Of course, it’s not all fun and game apps that drive up download rates. LINE, a popular messaging app that allows users to share messages and make phone calls for free. This app now has 500 million users in over 230 different countries.
Of course, there are universally popular apps that everyone seems to love or use like Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Instagram, among others. Not all apps are popular or frequently downloaded as some. Out of the 1,601, 413 total number of apps uploaded on the App Store throughout the year, just 1,252,777 of the apps remain. Many of these dead apps have since been removed.
