Could Apple's AppStore Reach $1 Billion Sold?
In just nine months, AppStore, an iTunes-based marketplace where iPhone and iPod Touch users can download free and paid applications directly to their devices and application developers can sell their creations, has changed the landscape of mobility, sparking a handful of copycats, most recently BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) Ltd.'s BlackBerry App World, which is set to launch this month.
And one analyst, Needham & Co.'s Charlie Wolf, on Tuesday indicated that actual AppStore application downloads have surpassed the 500 million mark. If that rate continues, the Apple AppStore could reach $1 billion in sales by the end of the year, according to Apple news site Apple Insider.
"The iPhone AppStore has redefined the smartphone industry," Wolf said. "In a game of follow the leader, most operating system platforms, including Android, Windows Mobile, Palm and Symbian, announced they were opening similar online stores."
According to Apple Insider, Wolf estimated that the AppStore has sold roughly $203 million in applications for the three-month period ended in December, an assessment that would mean the AppStore generates roughly $800 million annually. Considering application sales increase each quarter, that scenario could push the application store to reach $1 billion by the end of the year.
Wolf's assessment jibes with a similar comment Steve Jobs made in December. At the time, Jobs said the AppStore made $30 million in just its first 30 days and predicted it would hit half a billion in short order. From there, he said, $1 billion was almost inevitable.
"Who knows, maybe it will be a $1 billion marketplace at some point in time," Jobs told The Wall Street Journal. "I've never seen anything like this in my career in software."
Apple's AppStore has set the standard for mobile application marketplaces. Last week, AppStore was ranked as the best among the competition by research firm Global Intelligence Alliance Group, which said AppStore was "miles ahead" of its rivals. And yesterday, analytics group Mobclix said that the AppStore's available applications grew to a total of 27,131 available.