A dynamic platform
But it is not just money that makes the App Store platform so
attractive to programming entrepreneurs. Dawson says another attraction is the fact that developers can avoid
huge advertising and marketing budgets: "If you're fortunate enough
to rank highly, you don't have to do your marketing."
Another reason is that the iPhone itself is opening up new possibilities in the mobile sector. The iPhone's touchscreen, simple user interface and easy-to-use software make it easy to develop simple and practical everyday applications.
Ahern says that the iPhone's new 3.0 operating system, due for release in the middle of the year, could lead to a new boom for applications as developers will be able to add new features to their applications: "One big thing is push alerts. Apple has finally made available a system that tells the phone when there is something interesting happening, and the user sees a pop-up that they can push it and launch the app."
He says the other big breakthrough is the ability for developers to sell other features or products within existing applications. "Until now, apps are either free or it's a once-off price. Apple hasn't had a good model for that, but now there's in-application commerce. That's going to mean a lot more services and content are going to be available."
Ahern says that while the iPhone's limitations have made some applications unfeasible, the new update will allow him to do "basically anything they ask".
Steve Fawkner of gaming developing group Infinite Interactive also predicts the App Stores will become an even bigger platform for gaming companies. He says developers will even look at bringing old, out-dated games to a new format. "It's certainly built for gaming. The number of small iPhone developers coming out tell me the iPhone game market is going to grow," he says.
Trouble ahead
But while the App Store has created an entire community and
industry around the creation and marketing of these programs,
developers say the store's life expectancy in its current format is
short.
Ahern says the sheer size of the App Store means developers are becoming lost. "There are too many applications now. Apple are a victim of their own success — they've created their own information management problem," he says.
There are too many applications now. Apple are a victim of their own success
MoGeneration CEO Keith Ahern
Ovum analyst Nathan Burley agrees: "That's a problem with the internet isn't it — how do people find content that's relevant? It's like any other website."
Graham Dawson is more blunt. "I can't see the existing model surviving; it will have to change," he says. "The apps that receive the most downloads are the most visible. Given people buy cheaper apps rather than the most expensive, developers have pressure to put prices down."
Dawson says this means developers then give in to creating cheap, novelty applications that sell well but lack the kind of usability and practicability a high-end business application offers. "If they change the system so that it doesn't reward the volume of applications sold, and bias it towards higher prices, then you'd find the higher quality apps would go towards the top of the rankings," he says.
Travis Yates agrees, and worries that the small application developers who led the development of the sector are about to be squeezed out by larger companies that have discovered there is money to be made. "I've only got limited resources; I'm working by myself," Yates says. "If there are popular brand names they're going to be pushing other titles down. That's my main worry at this stage, that it'll get to a point where it's run by big companies."
But Fawkner says that if the individual developers can't beat them, then they should join them with some simple business tactics. "They need to build a brand as people will like something they know and trust," he says. "If I build four or five applications, I should name them all similarly. If I create a brand, it helps me stand out from the noise and lends an aura of credibility."
God i hope the iPhone dose not become like Facebook. Full of useless childish crap apps. Apple should vet what gets released on the Apps Store.