Apple today released the iPhone 3.1 OS, giving iPhone users yet more features to play with. Granted, some of those features were things that should have been included in the iPhone OS a long time ago – that’s just how Apple rolls. The iPhone maker also took the opportunity to recap its success with the AppStore. According to Apple, the iPhone AppStore has become home to over 75,000 iPhone apps since its launch over two years ago. During that time, the AppStore has moved 1.8 billion iPhone apps through its virtual doors. Some say all those app downloads make for one seriously profitable AppStore.
With a little quick math from Mashable, the updated figures work out to Apple pushing through an astounding 3,000 app downloads for every minute of every day since the AppStore went live. When the iPhone launched in 2007, it was a US-only smartphone with no app download service to speak of. There are now tens of millions of iPhones nestled in pants pockets and hand bags around the world (hip holsters get ignored for being uncool) – all of them connected to a gargantuan applications store. No matter how you slice it, Apple is being inundated with downloads.
More important than Apple’s marketing numbers, however, is how the AppStore sparked an entire mobile industry into action. The iPhone made the smartphone accessible and fun for the masses, but it was the AppStore that changed the way the mobile world looked at software and services for handsets. The AppStore has spurred just about every major cellphone maker and wireless carrier around the world to start work on their own applications store. There are even websites that help you navigate the AppStore’s immense catalog of iPhone apps. And, as disappointed we sometimes get with Apple’s AppStore policies, there’s no denying that Apple has made global app distribution as simple as possible.
More applications stores means more competition. More competition leads to faster innovation and aggressive pricing. In the end, consumers win. Go consumers!
[Via: Mashable]