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Going green was the rage of 2009, and the buzz in 2010 isn't letting up. Manufacturers are responding to increased demands from their white box makers for more eco-friendly components.
The store opened on July 11 of this year and iPhone app developers have already broken into five digits worth of free and pay apps. That was accomplished in less than six months. And the developers wrote those apps all while being subjected to Apple's sometimes draconian approval process. That's pretty impressive.
But what does 10,000 apps really mean? Analysts, investors, customers and people in general have a tendency to get caught up with big, round numbers. Maybe it's psychological: Perhaps numbers in the power of 10 are just more appealing to the brain. Or maybe rolling a digit from a 9 to a zero and adding a comma has its own inherent aesthetic appeal.
I think 10,000 is an important number for the iPhone and Apple because it marks acceptance. Let's face it, 100 apps was likely a nice moment for Apple. Breaking 1,000 apps was probably a little more exciting for the company because it showed the store and the phone was attracting an early adopter market.
But 10,000 iPhone apps shows that the demand for the applications has grown large enough that a developer might be able to start making a decent chunk of change just developing the applications, assuming they get approved. That, in and of itself, is a reflection that the audience and demand for new apps has grown large enough to become self-sustaining. And the only way that happens is if the iPhone really has been accepted and adopted by a constantly growing segment of smartphone users.
Just look at the numbers. A Gartner report released earlier this week states that Apple increased its market share to 12.9 percent in the third quarter of 2008, shipping nearly 7 million iPhones. Those numbers give Apple the third largest market share, ahead of even Research In Motion.
Since its release, the iPhone has become the standard to which all other smartphones are compared. Do a Web search for the phrase "iPhone killer" and the results will be staggering. There's no doubt about the fact that the iPhone has arrived and changed the way people consume information.
President Elect Obama is pushing addresses out via YouTube that iPhone users watch on the subway or lying in bed. Google Maps means that as long as there is battery power left in the iPhone you never have to get lost again. The latest commercial features an app that searches for restaurants in the area based on location, price and type of food.
When all things are nearly equal between smartphones -- GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G, etc. -- it's the app store that often has people choosing Apple over the other option. The BlackBerry Storm may try and take a bite out of Apple's market share, but the lack of compelling apps -- or any app store until 2009 for that matter -- tips the scales back toward Apple.
There will continue to be challengers to Apple's crown but the number of apps will continue to grow, a testimony to good design. But I doubt anyone will surpass the iPhone and its applications.
Here's betting that the next 90,000 apps in the store come as quickly as Apple cares to approve them.
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