iPhone developer's Journey

 
 
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With now over 1,5 billion apps downloaded in a little less than one year, it's still ok to say, like the Inc. Magazine did in 1981, ¨This man (Steve Jobs) has changed buisness forever¨. There's no doubt that Apple's App Store has changed the cell phone and entertainement industry forever. Giving people the chance to express themselves this way will always be the best bet. Possibilities are endless.

First of all, let's go back to July 10th of 2008. This day was the very first one of the App Store. Even though there were not much to know if it was going to be a success, no one could havec guess it was going to be that big. With only 500 applications at launch, it still managed to get 10 million downloads in the first wee-end! From that moment it was clear something big was happening. By April they hit the billion download and three months later, in July, it was 1,5 billion. Another thing to be mentionned, from 500 applications available there is now, up to this date, more than 35,000 available. That'S amazing.

Anyway, that being said, there's also been some controversy during the year. I think the most weird one happened in March when some developpers complained that they had not been paid and some even claimed to be owed a couple of thousansds dollars. There was also some weird app like Ï am Rich¨or the ¨Baby Shaker¨app that made it through the approval process and should have not.

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Ovi Store
It's an easy thing to be on top when you're alone but during the year Apple saw some compeitors launched their own App Store. The first one was Nokia's Ovi Store. Then RIM launched theirs. There is also one on the Android plateform and Palm will release one for the Pre's launch. None of them had the APple's App Store succes but some of them, like the Android one, are going in the right direction and may become  some serious competitors. Anyway Google is always a bad competitor to have against you. Oh and don't forget Windows Mobile Marketplace...well maybe you can forget it. Now that others App Store are running on competitor's device, it may get a little harder for Apple to retain its crown.

To conclude, Apple's number 1 place in the mobile application market will not be in danger for the next few years that's for sure. The main reason is explained here by Phone developer consultant Raven Zachary:¨I think some of the other online app stores are keeping up as far as having a base set of features like being able to search for applications, but no one else has the ease of purchase, the catalog size and the power and flexibility of the iPhone."  That summerize why the iPhone will still be on top again next year.


 


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