When it comes to apps, the iPhone platform is now bigger than the Facebook platform, according to a report by Flurry, a San Francisco-based mobile analytics company. Flurry said today that Apple’s iTunes App Store has over 140,000 applications compared to 60,000 apps available on the Facebook platform.
“Since the App Store launched in July 2008, 35,000 unique companies have released applications, which translates to 58 new companies launching apps each day,” Furry said in its Smartphone Industry Pulse report for February 2010.
That’s quite amazing, considering that Facebook launched its platform more than a year earlier than the iPhone platform and has north of 400 million users. In comparison, the iPhone OS platform has about 70 million devices. And developer momentum for the iPhone platform isn’t going to wane anytime soon.
Why? To paraphrase Jerry McGuire, Apple is showing developers the money. Thanks to its one-click payment option, it’s easy for app developers to make money -– whether it’s by selling apps or selling virtual goods within apps.
With the iPad showing up as a platform extension, more developers are looking to focus their energies on the iPhone platform. “Over six weeks since Apple announced the iPad, Flurry continues to measure a significant increase in iPhone OS new application starts within its system,” the analytics firm said. Much of it is said to be developers looking to adapt their applications for the larger-format device.
The most interesting part of the Flurry report was the iPhone developer DNA. Its analysis revealed the following categories:
1. Native iPhone: Companies founded to create applications for iPhone (e.g., PageOnce, ngmoco)
2. Traditional Media: Companies established on Film, TV, Print and Radio (e.g., Disney, TBS, New York Times)
3. Mobile: Companies having started on J2ME, BREW, BlackBerry, etc. (e.g., Digital Chocolate, eBuddy)
4. Retail & CPG: Brick-and-mortar companies or ones that manufacture goods (e.g., The Gap, DKNY, Kraft)
5. Online: Companies who began on the web including e-Commerce, social networks, online gaming, streaming music, etc. (e.g., Google, eBay, Facebook, Pandora, PopCap, Zynga)
6. Traditional Gaming: Video game companies from console, portable or PC (e.g., EA, Activision, Namco, etc.).
Despite the fact that the App Store is now maturing, reaching its two year anniversary this summer, we are encouraged that native iPhone application developers are still relevant, representing 20% of the heritage pie, the second largest category. This means that the barrier to entry is still low enough for start-ups to enter and innovation to flourish. However, those days may be numbered as “discoverability” has become a significant issue, and now “marketing muscle” is starting to count more in the App Store.
