With 100,000 apps, is Apple’s iPhone unstoppable?

November 4, 2009 | Dean Takahashi | Comments | |

app 2Apple announced today that the number of apps in the AppStore has now crossed 100,000. That’s a remarkable achievement for a platform that launched just 15 months ago.

As we’ve said before, the momentum behind Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch seems unstoppable. The 100,000 number should strike fear among Apple’s competitors, who are so far behind. Whether it’s Nintendo with the DS game handheld, Sony with the PlayStation Portable and PSPgo, or the app stores of Nokia, Research in Motion, Google’s Android and a bunch of other cell phone companies, the odds of catching up seems slim.

On Sept. 28, Apple said it hit 2 billion downloads and 85,000 apps. Back on Sept. 9, it said it had more than 1.8 billion downloads and more than 75,000 apps. There are now more than 125,000 developers in Apple’s iPhone developer program. And Apple has sold more than 50 million iPhones and iPod Touch handhelds, as of its last quarterly report. On April 23, Apple hit a billion downloads. On July 14, Apple said it hit 1.5 billion downloads and 65,000 apps. The number of iPhones and iPod Touches in the market is well above 50 million.

app 1The top category is still games, which comes in at 20,886 apps, according to Mobclix. App developers are seeing huge numbers. Smule’s I Am T-Pain, a music app, is getting more than 10,000 downloads a day.

At the same time, the developers are tripping over themselves to get noticed. With so many choices, it can be bewildering for consumers to discover new apps. And while Apple has created a Genius recommendation engine to suggest similar apps to those someone already has, there isn’t an obvious way for apps get noticed in the crowd.

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About the Author, Dean Takahashi

Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

  • At what point does the app store become so big that it begins losing value? Sure you have sites like http://appreview.com that try to review all the apps (and point you to the small percentage of apps that you will find useful), but at some point the numbers get so large that you can't find valuable apps.
  • Tim
    Bubbles aren't restricted to the stock market and housing market. When developers realize that the return isn't there, they will be less likely to invest time and money. Ultimately supply and demand will reach a balance.
  • Brian
    How many apps are there really? For example, one developer has 50 apps all of the form "Countdown to Superbowl" "Countdown to Next Solar Eclipse", etc. They're the same dang app, but with a different countdown target. This kind of shovelware greatly bloats the app count. Similarily for "Free/Paid" versions which up until very recently had to be two different apps.

    If I were a competitor, I'd show 2 people, iPhone guy and <blackberry, etc> guy talking about their apps-- how the Blackberry guy uses his productivty apps, brand name game apps, etc. while the iPhone guy shows off his iBeer, and other apps which were obviously put together in a weekend by a hobbiest somewhere...
  • pascalino
    Your missing the point. The iPhone guy has all the same productivity apps and brand name game apps PLUS iBeer and all the hobbiest apps.
  • Brian
    That's exactly the point... Show how having 100,000 apps really doesn't matter-- as long as you have the apps you care about. Neutralize the value (in the eye of the viewer) of the oft-touted "look at all the apps we have" Apple advantage by getting them to think about what they really want the phone for. Show the guy being productive, while the other guy says "did I show my Fart application.. this is the best of the 200 fart apps out there"...
    (ok, maybe not so smart to use Fart app in ad, but u get the idea :))...
  • tikilgs
    Pascalino is right, for ordinary people, big names free apps and a lot of apps make a difference when you select your phone, as the sheer variety of accessories: Apple has won the war of the ordinary people who accept to pay more. It where they have been for 25 years.
    Apple will stop himself as they always do: prefer profits and high capitalization than a big % of the market. and Hype and Hype and Hype with your cheering and happy to pay crowds.

    A pb on the iPhone does not exist until Steve solves it (speed, multitask, flash, photo pixels, battery...., real OS ) ...
  • BBronson
    The app store is not sustainable in is current form because many of the developers are not making money. I've downloaded lots of apps but have only paid for NeuroMobile and a few others. Eventually many of the free apps (and junk apps) will go away and the more popular apps like NeuroMobile will cost more. Many developers are enticed by the thought of striking it rich but once they find that the money is not there, they will be forced to cut their losses.
  • Susan
    > The app store is not sustainable in is current form

    You better not tell that to the 125,000 developers, writing 85,000 paid apps, and 26,000 free apps, and the 2 BILLION downloads be done.

    What year do you expect all the developers to leave Apple... and the app-store will have nothing in it?
  • tikilgs
    There are 4 parties in the Apple Game: Apple, users, operators and developpers.
    Yes, Apple has made enormous gains.
    Yes users have made enormous gains ! the comic of the situation is that geeks acclaim a non geek device (see the N900 if you want a real one), and entice ordinary people to buy iPhone... Soon geeks, (not apple maniacs who have been buying Apple gear for years, now 3 iPhones and next a tablet... ) will leave the ordinary iPhone for a real mobile computer ! (would you buy a computer doing one application at a time ? ).
    Strantum, a danish agency, has demonstrated that operators have not really gained much... against the hype but by reading the books and the balance sheets! They pay for the iPhone and then they pay for the unlimited data flow.
    Then the big losers are the independant Developpers community (salaried developpers are very happy, thanks Steve)... Applications prices have been divided by 10 and the average down load is 10 000 at 0,99$ which is a fantastic net revenue of 6900 $ for the developper team !
  • tikilgs
    the 5th party is also gaining a lot : those who write about Apple and iPhone !
  • mojoworkin
    The app store will be sustainable in its future form, whatever that will be, for example mostly free promo apps by major companies who elevate them in people's attention by muscle and hope they go viral. Currently, it is not what it appears to be for the reasons @bbronson mentioned.

    The iPhone is a bright, shiny object for all concerned, including developers. It will remain such for as long as Apple's magic dust retains its power. Most iPhone developers (and bands) are cannon fodder for Apple's hype machine (10,000 songs in your pocket, 2 billion downloads, etc.).

    Must go now and develop an iPhone app ... or maybe start a band. I'm practically rich.
  • My personal belief at this point is that the 100K App milestone is the point when Apple should shift tactics and focus on something more meaningful than mere quantity, as subsequent numbers become less and less meaningful, and we get it, "There's an App for That."

    Otherwise, the 'magic' starts become clinical and cold, which is very un-Apple-like, something that I blogged about in:

    iPhone’s 100K Apps is the New '7-Minute Abs'
    http://bit.ly/rJkEC

    Check it out, if interested.

    Mark