Why 50 Billion app downloads matter.
Apple has reached a major milestone, its app store has reached 50 Billion Downloads. To put that into perspective, there is about 6 Billion people in the world w/c means there is almost 10 apps downloaded for each living soul on the planet. To put it on even better perspective, Apple has sold 500 Million iOS devices according to most recent numbers (source here). That means on average each iOS device sold has 100 apps installed/downloaded to it.
If you think this milestone is important only from a business standpoint, you are missing half the story. Here is why:
How the iPhone changed the mobile market
When the first iPhone came out, the Apple App store was not in existence yet and no one had any idea how big a role apps will play in our lives. The first iPhone unveiled on January 9, 2007 and went on sale on June 29, 2007. At launch, the 1st Generation iPhone was able to do basic Smartphone functions (ie. web-browsing, email, calendar, etc.) and it was heralded as the “Jesus Phone”. It changed the way people interacted with their phones w/ its touch-screen and intuitive user interface. A year later (July 10, 2008) the Apple App store came out adding more to the appeal of the device. Suddenly people viewed their phones not only as a device to make calls but as a companion in their every day lives. People started to feel a sense of freedom as the iPhone allowed them to leave behind their desktops and still be productive. People were able to stay connected even outside their homes and offices. The key driver to this change was the Apps that were made available thru the Apple App store.
The App store allowed users to build their own App solutions based on their lifestyle- turning their iPhones into true "I"-devices. The flexibility the iPhone provided its users thru the App store spawned a huge cult-like following for the company. Suddenly everybody wanted to get their hands on an iPhone. The huge success of the iPhone brought the smart-phone market to the main-stream. No longer were smartphones the property of business executives but rather a device that every individual needed to have. Fast-forward to today and we are seeing more smartphones being sold than PC's. The success and popularity of the iPhone not only benefited Apple, but the entire mobile device market and the consumer.
The Apple model of allowing users to customize their user-experience with Apps has been adopted by all manufacturers today and is considered to be a key factor for success. When the new Blackberry 10 OS came out, one of the criticism people had was the lack of big name App developers buying into the Blackberry World (Blackberry's official store-front). Blackberry was then quick to re-assure people about the availability of big name apps in the next iterations (ie. Instagram, Pandora, Netflix, etc)
How Apps turn your phone into a smartphone
Most smartphones today are loaded with apps but they all start as pretty dumb phones with very basic functions. Take the iPhone 5 for example. Coming out of the box and after the initial set-up, the iPhone 5 is able to do the following: sms, mms, email, browse, call, set an alarm, set a calendar appointment, take a note, play music, play a movie, take a picture/ video, use a virtual mobile assistant, and download and install apps. These functions are now considered standard and smartphones are not measured by these functions at all. Nobody goes into a mobile device store and say "I need a phone that has an alarm clock" because all phones have them. Although the ability to send and receive emails from your phone was considered revolutionary 10 years ago, today it is expected of every phone.
Today, what makes a smartphone "smart" is the ability to download and install apps. People today measure the appeal of a smartphone based on this single ability. This strong focus on the individual's ability to install apps on their phone has spawned another demand in the mobile industry- the need for a vibrant App Storefront.
The big names in mobile manufacturing are also the biggest names in App Storefronts. Apple is obviously the biggest and every app developer in the world makes an iOS version of their apps first before any other platform. Second place belongs to Google Play store w/c is slowly trying to play catch up with Apples App Store. (source here) Today, the diversity and availability of apps in a manufacturer's app store is considered a major factor for a phone's success. These store fronts allow people to turn their smartphones into devices with attitude and real personal appeal. It allows them to stay connected with people thousands of miles away thru social networking apps, VoIP apps, etc). It allows them to personalize their user experience with themes and customer wallpapers, etc. With apps, people are able to turn their phones into extensions of their personalities.
The always connected self- the fuel for the app revolution
So why does 50 Billion app downloads matter so much? Because consumer today are slowly moving into an "always connected" model of themselves. There are over 1 Billion people on Facebook and on average each person has over 100 friends. Instagram has spawned a new photography revolution- suddenly people want to share pictures of their cats and their breakfast to the whole world. Twitter has revolutionized how we share and get information about the world around us. Suddenly people want to be connected all the time through these social-media networks and their main portal for doing this are their smartphones.
When Facebook announced its IPO, one of the "risk" factors identified by investors was the popularity of mobile access to their apps (source here). They saw a trend where people were starting to spend more time on their mobile site/apps rather than their desktops/ laptops. This was a problem for Facebook as it affected their ability to push targeted advertising to its users. Facebook took the "mobile" problem seriously and it released Facebook Home- an app (read my blog about Facebook Home)- to try and ride this trend.
People have never been as interconnected as they are today, and this opens up new opportunities for companies to reach its customers and to gain new ones. This is why mobile apps are so important today and will grow in more importance in the future. As people spend more and more time on mobile devices like smart-phones and tablets, app storefronts will become more and more important.
As we continue this rabid desire to be connected and to reach more and more people through our social networks, mobile apps will continue to play a very essential role in our lives. The more we use and depend on our smartphones, companies will find ways to make apps that captures our attention. Apps that allows them to engage and understand us better- in order to sell better. Gone are the days when companies scrambled to buy TV advertising spots, today companies will be scrambling to put Ads on smartphone screens.
Apple's 50th Billion App download, no matter how staggering the number, is only the start of this shift. Soon we will realize that for every life decision we want to make, there will always be "an app for that".
Deals of the week:
Get your hands on an iPhone 5 from Best Buy here
Get your hand on the lates Samsung Galaxy S 4 from Best Buy here
Get your hands on the beautifully designed HTC One from Best Buy here
The best Marked-Down Android Apps!!! Check them out:
Minecraft Pocket Edition slashed from $6.99 to $3.99. Buy it here
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| image source |
The Apple model of allowing users to customize their user-experience with Apps has been adopted by all manufacturers today and is considered to be a key factor for success. When the new Blackberry 10 OS came out, one of the criticism people had was the lack of big name App developers buying into the Blackberry World (Blackberry's official store-front). Blackberry was then quick to re-assure people about the availability of big name apps in the next iterations (ie. Instagram, Pandora, Netflix, etc)
How Apps turn your phone into a smartphone
Most smartphones today are loaded with apps but they all start as pretty dumb phones with very basic functions. Take the iPhone 5 for example. Coming out of the box and after the initial set-up, the iPhone 5 is able to do the following: sms, mms, email, browse, call, set an alarm, set a calendar appointment, take a note, play music, play a movie, take a picture/ video, use a virtual mobile assistant, and download and install apps. These functions are now considered standard and smartphones are not measured by these functions at all. Nobody goes into a mobile device store and say "I need a phone that has an alarm clock" because all phones have them. Although the ability to send and receive emails from your phone was considered revolutionary 10 years ago, today it is expected of every phone.
Today, what makes a smartphone "smart" is the ability to download and install apps. People today measure the appeal of a smartphone based on this single ability. This strong focus on the individual's ability to install apps on their phone has spawned another demand in the mobile industry- the need for a vibrant App Storefront.
 |
| image source |
The big names in mobile manufacturing are also the biggest names in App Storefronts. Apple is obviously the biggest and every app developer in the world makes an iOS version of their apps first before any other platform. Second place belongs to Google Play store w/c is slowly trying to play catch up with Apples App Store. (source here) Today, the diversity and availability of apps in a manufacturer's app store is considered a major factor for a phone's success. These store fronts allow people to turn their smartphones into devices with attitude and real personal appeal. It allows them to stay connected with people thousands of miles away thru social networking apps, VoIP apps, etc). It allows them to personalize their user experience with themes and customer wallpapers, etc. With apps, people are able to turn their phones into extensions of their personalities.
The always connected self- the fuel for the app revolution
So why does 50 Billion app downloads matter so much? Because consumer today are slowly moving into an "always connected" model of themselves. There are over 1 Billion people on Facebook and on average each person has over 100 friends. Instagram has spawned a new photography revolution- suddenly people want to share pictures of their cats and their breakfast to the whole world. Twitter has revolutionized how we share and get information about the world around us. Suddenly people want to be connected all the time through these social-media networks and their main portal for doing this are their smartphones.
When Facebook announced its IPO, one of the "risk" factors identified by investors was the popularity of mobile access to their apps (source here). They saw a trend where people were starting to spend more time on their mobile site/apps rather than their desktops/ laptops. This was a problem for Facebook as it affected their ability to push targeted advertising to its users. Facebook took the "mobile" problem seriously and it released Facebook Home- an app (read my blog about Facebook Home)- to try and ride this trend.
People have never been as interconnected as they are today, and this opens up new opportunities for companies to reach its customers and to gain new ones. This is why mobile apps are so important today and will grow in more importance in the future. As people spend more and more time on mobile devices like smart-phones and tablets, app storefronts will become more and more important.
As we continue this rabid desire to be connected and to reach more and more people through our social networks, mobile apps will continue to play a very essential role in our lives. The more we use and depend on our smartphones, companies will find ways to make apps that captures our attention. Apps that allows them to engage and understand us better- in order to sell better. Gone are the days when companies scrambled to buy TV advertising spots, today companies will be scrambling to put Ads on smartphone screens.
Apple's 50th Billion App download, no matter how staggering the number, is only the start of this shift. Soon we will realize that for every life decision we want to make, there will always be "an app for that".
Deals of the week:
Get your hands on an iPhone 5 from Best Buy here
Get your hand on the lates Samsung Galaxy S 4 from Best Buy here
Get your hands on the beautifully designed HTC One from Best Buy here
The best Marked-Down Android Apps!!! Check them out:
Minecraft Pocket Edition slashed from $6.99 to $3.99. Buy it here
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