Apple Dominates the Mobile App Market in 2009

[Rob Williams]

The term "cell phone" used to mean one thing... a portable phone that used cellular towers to place a call. Today, the term almost seems defunct, because today's phones do much, much more than place a simple call. Strangely enough, today's phones seem to do that one single thing worse than phones from ten years ago, and if there's a reason for it, it's because the models we have today are designed to do more than ever.

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You can read the rest of our news post here.

 

[MacMan]

I agree with you that it's not good for anyone company to dominate any particular market in the way that the iPhone now does. Microsoft's dominance of the desktop space is a prime example of what can happen, namely indifference leading to shoddy products, and even the down right abuse of its customers. Well, Apple is no different, in this regard I guess, and now that they have become the 'Microsoft' of the mobile, mpeg and downloads market, there is always the same potential for the same indifference to develop. So far at least that hasn't happened, but you never know, you know?

Unfortunately, even though I agree with your sentiment, some analysts, as you can see in this video link below, actually think that Apple's dominance will not only continue, but will actually grow, but obviously, with some 99-plus percent of the current market, not by much!!


http://www.businessinsider.com/business-news/jan-15-munster3-2010-1

They point out that among the reasons why the APP STORE now features over 133,000 apps is because developers prefer the platform. OS X is a great OS to develop for, and the the truth of the matter is, just like Windows developers, they tend to go where the customers are, and that means the 56 million or so iPhone and Touch customers. BoyGenious has some info here, that if confirmed this coming Wednesday, might just be the worst news that Android and others could possibly hear: http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010...tailed-also-apple-calling-tablet-the-itablet/

Hopefully, Apple can keep its lead without actually dominating in the same way and fashion that Microsoft had become so famous for in the past, but that is something that we will just have to wait and see, won't we?

Great post, by the way, Rob!

 

[Rob Williams]

Well, Apple is no different, in this regard I guess, and now that they have become the 'Microsoft' of the mobile, mpeg and downloads market, there is always the same potential for the same indifference to develop. So far at least that hasn't happened, but you never know, you know?

The fact that Apple so heavily moderates which apps can appear on its store is what bugs me most about the company. If that little issue was non-existent, there would be few complaints about the App Store. Apple doesn't like open software, that's for sure, but I really do with it was a bit more lenient. The picture I used here is kind of ironic, because that's the very app I think of when I talk about this issue. Fortunately, it was allowed in the store after a while, but not until a bunch of changes were made to the software.

Unfortunately, even though I agree with your sentiment, some analysts, as you can see in this video link below, actually think that Apple's dominance will not only continue, but will actually grow, but obviously, with some 99-plus percent of the current market, not by much!!

I have no doubt in this at all, but it's really hard to say. People who don't like Apple or the iPhone tend to go with Droid, and that phone is still in its infancy. There's real potential there, but it would take a semi-miracle to see any market share taken away from Apple. I don't see it happening soon.