Apple Surpasses 2 Billion App Store Downloads

[kernkraft]

2 billion, but...

I haven't found reliable source to this, but I roughly remember that Apple only made a few tens of millions of dollars from App Store. I think the proportion of free apps is closer to 90 percent. The most recent quarterly company accounts don't specify the numbers, but we have to consider that 2 billion apps generate huge infrastructural costs. just to maintain the system without any expansion would be a mammoth task for even the largest IT corporations. In this sense, I can imagine that the net profit from the App Store is relatively minor.

I know that I downloaded well over a thousand apps within a few weeks of getting my first iPhone. Most of them were useless to me, so I deleted them. Now I only use about 20-30 on a daily or weekly basis. Meanwhile, I spent less than 35 USD. On me, Apple did not get much of an income. I bet that there are tens of thousands like me - enthusiastic first, getting dozens of the freebies, but eventually settling for only a few.

You know, what's missing from the App Store? Google Voice, a non-premium version of Spotify, a Tesco and an Amazon UK app. I would happily exchange tens of thousands of App Store's offerings for any of them. Meanwhile, I just hope that fart generators and sexy Japanese girl apps will kind of wear out.




Actually, I found this: "Net sales of other music-related products and services increased $139 million or 17% and $510 million or 20% during the third quarter of 2009 and first nine months of 2009, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2008." That includes the whole iTunes for music and other content; US and global, respectively.

 

[RichTF]

Actually a thought occurrs to me...

When you buy a new iPhone or iPod Touch then do the apps you've downloaded to use on your previous iPhone/iPod Touch transfer automatically or do you have to re-download them?

Because if it's the former then that's REALLY impressive.

Yeah, some of my apps have followed me from my iPod Touch, to my iPhone 3G, and then to my iPhone 3GS. It's awesome, and surprised me at first too.

 

[rdowns]

I haven't found reliable source to this, but I roughly remember that Apple only made a few tens of millions of dollars from App Store.



Actually, I found this: "Net sales of other music-related products and services increased $139 million or 17% and $510 million or 20% during the third quarter of 2009 and first nine months of 2009, respectively, compared to the same periods in 2008." That includes the whole iTunes for music and other content; US and global, respectively.

Not sure where you are getting these numbers but in Apple's last quarter (Q3 2009) they reported revenue of $958 million which encompasses the iTS and iPod accessories.

http://images.apple.com/pr/pdf/q309data_sum.pdf

 

[OutSpoken]

Serious question to you all, does it really matter that the App store has had 2 billion downloads?

 

[*LTD*]

Serious question to you all, does it really matter that the App store has had 2 billion downloads?

It matters in terms of spurring iPhone and iPod Touch sales. Features like the App Store are what drives sales, and the more robust it is in content the better.

 

[anubis]

Arn,

The derivative of this graph (dDownloads/dt) would be an infinitely more useful chart than total sales vs date. Then you could see the rate of sales.

 

[rdowns]

Serious question to you all, does it really matter that the App store has had 2 billion downloads?

As an APPL stockholder, yes.
An an Apple enthusiast, yes.

 

[125037]

Congratulations to the devs, I guess. I think by now Apple has realized what a mistake it was not to have third-party apps with the launch of the iPhone.

And I'm sure about 2/3 of those 2 billion were free apps.

Still. That leaves about SIX HUNDRED SIXTY SIX MILLION paid apps. (666,000,000) That my friend... is amazing.

 

[emulator]

The competition is still essentially nowhere in this area.

no wonder apple can play god what to approve and what not. A.D.D. is in the limbo for how many months? 5? FU apple!

 

[Bevz]

Good Grief! If the iPhone is remembered for nothing else, it'll be remembered for this!

 

[KnightWRX]

Are you serious???

Yes I am. Steve said so himself. No, there was no secret master plan where Apple had everything under control. They decided something, market forces pulled to the other side, Apple reacted and adjusted their strategy.

Why do you guys think is negative ? It's very positive to see a corporation making a mistake and then being able to adjust quickly and efficiently. It's positive, so no need to try to sweep it under the rug.

 

[aluren]

I wonder how much of that consist of free downloads...

 

[QCassidy352]

As an APPL stockholder, yes.
An an Apple enthusiast, yes.

Same to both. I do not, however, care whether apple planned the app store from the start or not - nor do we or will we ever know the truth on that one.

 

[ivladster]

I wonder how many of those 2 billion downloads are even used beyond the first time?

Who cares. What matters is that no other phone or company have this. Not even Crackberry with its "REVOLUTIONARY" keyboard.

 

[ivladster]

Serious question to you all, does it really matter that the App store has had 2 billion downloads?

Show me a company that has something like this. Of course it does. It says that iPhone OS is an amazing success.

 

[*LTD*]

Who cares. What matters is that no other phone or company have this. Not even Crackberry with its "REVOLUTIONARY" keyboard.

http://www.macdailynews.com/index.p...arch_in_slow_motion_the_worst_is_yet_to_come/

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-market-dragged-down-by-tech-2009-09-25

So far, it's a one-trick pony being buttressed by the business sector. RIM's long-term strategy needs to change. As it stands now, it's not a question of whether the iPhone will surpass RIM, but when.

It's beginning to look like RIM is vulnerable even in the corporate smartphone market. On the one hand, new phones like the iPhone and Pre are diluting its share of the corporate side of the smartphone sector, long RIM’s strong suit, at the same time as new RIM offerings like the Storm are failing to make inroads in the consumer smartphone sector. The big winner so far? You don't even need to ask. The iPhone is growing as a corporate tool, not just a consumer product. There are a huge number of business apps available from theApp Store, while simultaneously Apple continues to maintain its lead in consumer smartphones, and even to increase that lead. If RIM's nto careful, they'll find themselves in a dead heat with Apple in the smartphone marketplace.

 

[BongoBanger]

http://www.macdailynews.com/index.p...arch_in_slow_motion_the_worst_is_yet_to_come/

So far, it's a one-trick pony being buttressed by the business sector. RIM's long-term strategy needs to change. As it stands now, it's not a question of whether the iPhone will surpass RIM, but when.

Not unless Apple diversify the product line. RIM - like Nokia - succeed because they have a mass model approach.

 

[deconstruct60]

but we have to consider that 2 billion apps generate huge infrastructural costs. just to maintain the system without any expansion would be a mammoth task for even the largest IT corporations..

Errr...
Firefox had 500 million downloads a while back
http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2008/0...oads-complete-500-million-grains-in-progress/

If it was soooooooooooo mega huge expensive how does Mozilla do it???
[ and farming it out to mirror sites only distributes the costs; not make it cheaper. Each of these individual sites would have to be some expensive undertaking based on the above premise. ]

Throw in the fact that already have infrastructure to run the iTunes store and this is incremental additional workload.

If Apple got on average $0.005 (a half cent) per download for every billion downloads that is $5 million dollars. At $8,000 per server ( server, bandwidth , consumables/power/etc. ), that is about 625 download servers. At 25 1U servers per rack, that is about 30 racks. Not going to fit in someone's garage, but lots of folks run setups bigger than that. If wanted to dense pack them, that is about two of these : http://www.sun.com/products/sunmd/s20/


If think a half cent is a large amount per download then a few more quick numbers. Let's say only 10% of the billion are for pay: 100 million. Also that the average price is $0.99. So about 5% of that money, $99M, is for a server tax. Remember that Apple is taking 30%, so that is only 1/6 of the overhead charge.

P.S. pretty sure that the average selling price is higher. Also suspect the pay/free percentage is a tad higher than 10%. The $8K per server is pretty expensive bandwidth/power cost too.

 

[tabasco70]

talk about exponential growth.

 

[kdarling]

It matters in terms of spurring iPhone and iPod Touch sales. Features like the App Store are what drives sales, and the more robust it is in content the better.

Not sure it drives most sales, but certainly a lot.

I'd be interested if someone did an analysis of the apps and determined how many individual developers submitted them. For instance, out of 65,000 apps, did they come from 5,000 developers? 30,000? 15,000? And out of those, how many made enough money for a decent living?

The ability to put your app where people can see it, and to then actually make money, is something to draw longterm development.

Why do you guys think is negative ? It's very positive to see a corporation making a mistake and then being able to adjust quickly and efficiently. It's positive, so no need to try to sweep it under the rug.

Exactly. Apple has had a lot of misteps with the iPhone, from choosing a plastic screen at first, to initial price gouging, to ignoring unlocking at first, to underestimating the interest in push notification. Their ability to change with market pressure has helped contribute to its success.

As we've always said, the only "iPhone killer" would be Apple themselves if they failed to match consumer desires. They counted on lots of newbies, but as months go by, the users get more sophisticated all the time.

 

[LagunaSol]

lol Which way is it? Does Apple keep things secret until they're ready, or not?

If, as a few of you have said, Apple doesn't say anything until their product is ready, then how do you explain announcing an unfinished concept six months ahead of time? (And even saying it wasn't designed yet.)

You can't have it both ways.

The iPhone was an obvious aberration for Apple, probably due to 2 factors:

1) they wanted to announce the product on their own terms, not through some FCC leak

2) the stock was getting brutalized every time Jobs spoke and didn't mention the iPhone. They weren't going to let one more Macworld go by without unveiling it.

As for "unfinished concept" - Jobs actually demoed the working iPhone in his keynote (perhaps you didn't see it). Not a 3D rendering and fabricated multimedia demo (like the new Microsoft tablet) - but an actual working model he held in his hand and demonstrated for the world to see.

As for the SDK, that's something you obviously have to pre-announce for developers' sake. And to squelch the public outcry as well.

Again, the belief that Apple didn't envision the iPhone as a mini Mac (with native apps) in your pocket from Day One is delusional.

Just because a company doesn't pre-announce their every move 18 months in advance (*cough Microsoft*) doesn't mean they aren't hard at work concocting exactly the thing you may be hoping for.

 

[CQd44]

I remember reading a post on this forum where an iPhone user had over 100 apps on his phone.

The 42 app guy says he uses all 42 regularly. But over 100? :I

 

[LagunaSol]

Apple has had a lot of misteps with the iPhone, from choosing a plastic screen at first,

How can it be a "misstep" if they never shipped an iPhone with a plastic screen? It's all part of the design and development process. Heck, they had iPhones made out of paper, cardboard, and clay during the process. I suppose those were missteps too?

to initial price gouging,

I have a conspiracy theory that says this was part of Apple's diabolical plan. With the amount of hype flying around, Apple knew they could charge whatever they wanted to and the thing would still sell out. So why not: 1) squeeze every penny out of the early adopters, then 2) cut the price early, setting off another buying (and media) frenzy. Sure, you anger all the early adopters, but you can (mostly) soothe them with a $100 credit to the Apple Store (with which they buy more Apple stuff) - and more positive PR. I mean, who can fault the company that gives you some of your money back after they cut the price on a product, right? Brilliant.

to underestimating the interest in push notification.

Apple has plenty of head-scratchers. The lack of copy/paste for 2 years was beyond belief. Ditto push. And why not enable multitasking (which the iPhone can obviously handle) and let the consumer decide on the battery life tradeoffs? And slightly off-topic, why not offer an iTunes subscription service for people who want it? It would instantly kill the only real advantage the Zune has over the iPod. Why not just flip that switch? Baffling.

They counted on lots of newbies, but as months go by, the users get more sophisticated all the time.

Ah, the old "only idiots buy iPhones" chestnut. I assume all the tech sophisticates are buying...Windows Mobile devices? Hilarious.

I think Apple is targeting the consumer almost-perfectly with their iPhone/iPod touch strategy. Would I like to see more? Of course. But you certainly can't fault their business strategy thus far (except for the AT&T exclusivity - perhaps a good move at launch, but that ball and chain needs to be cut loose and pronto).

 

[DipDog3]

Paid vs Free?

No breakdown, how sad!

 

[KnightWRX]

As for the SDK, that's something you obviously have to pre-announce for developers' sake. And to squelch the public outcry as well.

Again, the belief that Apple didn't envision the iPhone as a mini Mac (with native apps) in your pocket from Day One is delusional.

Just because a company doesn't pre-announce their every move 18 months in advance (*cough Microsoft*) doesn't mean they aren't hard at work concocting exactly the thing you may be hoping for.

Except in this very case you did get an announcement, one that said "Web apps, Web apps, Web apps". It's not like they were silent about the whole thing. If they really had a public SDK in the pipeline, Steve wouldn't have said a thing about Web apps.

I think it's you who is delusional. Again, look at the initial annoucement for the iPhone. Steve Jobs clearly presents it as a Phone, an iPod, an Internet device. He says it about 40 times. That's what the original iPhone was, a platform meant for Web Apps with Mobile Safari at its core. The Internet device part of the whole plan. iPod and Phone don't exactly scream homebrew apps so those weren't part of any plan as far as apps go.

If Apple had a public SDK in the pipeline at that time, Jobs would have simply said nothing and evaded the questions about developping homebrew apps. That is what Apple does when they don't want to confirm rumors, they shut up and don't comment.

This is why everyone who is sane knows that the SDK wasn't being planned at all initially. Because that's Apple MO. They announced something so that was their plan.

And no it doesn't take years to release an SDK. They already had much of it ready simply for their own internal apps. The emulator was probably already in a working state to in order to develop and test the different stock apps. It was a matter of polishing and releasing. And that is probably what they did and why it did take a while until the SDK showed up after the announcement.

Ah, the old "only idiots buy iPhones" chestnut. I assume all the tech sophisticates are buying...Windows Mobile devices? Hilarious.

Obviously, you have no understanding of what he said. It's the old "early adopters buy and then compare the specs and features". And they often get burned. After your initial rush of early adopters, you next consumers are more informed and have more specific needs. That's what he meant. Nothing about idiots at all.

But you're too stuck in the black or white mentality. Try to realise there are shades of grey here.