Steve Jobs shared some stats on how the iPhone App store is doing one month after launch with the WSJ’s Nick Wingfield. There have already been 60 million downloads, the majority of them free. But paid downloads are doing just fine, pulling in $30 million in revenues in the first 30 days. The article does not reveal the total number of paid downloads, but given that apps range in price (mostly gravitating either to 99 cents or $9.99, but one briefly going as high as $999, before it was pulled down), it is safe to say that fewer than 30 million paid apps have been sold. One game alone, Sega’s $9.99 Super Monkey Ball, sold 300,000 copies (or $3 million worth). That one game alone accounted for 10 percent of all iPhone app sales.
Here are some stats culled from the WSJ article:
First Thirty Days: iPhone App Stats
Total Downloads: 60 Million
Total Revenues: $30 Million
Sales Going To App Developers: $21 Million
Sales Going To Top Ten Apps: $9 Million
Sales of Sega’s Super Monkey Ball: $3 Million
At the current rate, the App Store is on track to bring in annual sales of $360 million. Apple keeps about 30 percent to cover its costs (as it does with iTunes song sales), and the rest go to the developers who create the apps.
The question is how many apps can one person really manage before becoming overwhelmed. While the initial impulse is to download as many apps as possible to try them out, there is a limit to how many apps you can juggle on your iPhone. It is not much different than a PC. You have tons of apps, but how many do you actually use on a regular basis? For most people, that number is probably no more than ten apps, and on a daily basis, maybe 3 or 4 tops. Update: With an estimated three million 3G iPhones sold so far, and another six million first-gen iPhones, that averages just over six apps per phone (and that’s not even counting the iPod Touch).
For instance, of the 30 apps on my iPhone, I’ve used only about six more than once, and nearly all of those come with the device. By far, the app I use the most is Gmail, followed by Web browsing. Those two built-in apps account for about 90 percent of my usage and are the only apps I use on a daily basis. Those are followed by the camera (if you can call that an app), the calculator, and Maps. Of all the apps I’ve downloaded from the App store, only two of them are seeing regular usage, and both are games: Tap Tap Revenge and BeeCells (which my four-year-old plays more than I do—in fact, he think that’s what the iPhone is for).
And I’m not the only one who thinks that these apps are going to hit a saturation point real soon. And then it will become clear that the killer apps on the iPhone are the same as on your computer: email and the browser.
I agree. Official third party apps would be way cooler if Apple were more open about the whole thing. I understand that they only want “Apple approved” apps on their own app store, because otherwise it would make them look bad. Well shit, let me download an app directly from a web site, so your image doesn’t get tarnished, and I get the funcionality I desire.
The two apps that were absolutely killer for me with my hacked iPhone (which I obviously no longer have) were SSH and the NES emulator. I run a metric shit ton of linux servers for my job so being able to SSH into them at any time from any location that I have digital cell service, that blew my mind. And being able to play any old school NES game was super fun, even though it was hard to get used the controls with no tactile feedback, it was still great fun.
I would think that if writing an official SSH client were possible with the 2.0 restrictons, it would be done by now, so I’ve already written it off as “not going to happen” – gee, thanks Apple!
With the 2.0 software, there are lots of apps available, but you’re right, none of them is a killer.
If that happens people will load 3 crappy apps to their phones, screw the whole thing up and than complain to Apple and blame them for everything that went wrong.
You might be smart enough to realize ‘Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t have downloaded that Russian Alpha version of BitTorrent for iPhone’ when your phone stops working but how about the rest of the world?
None of the apps being a killer is a shrewd statement.Few manage to be good one i guess
Check out pTerm: http://www.zinger-soft.com/
Perhaps the “killer app” hasn’t emerged because we have defined it so narrowly that no app could ever be that good.
If these numbers are correct there is not gonna be a killer app. playing and bragging on the fancy phone was fun but now its time to get your hands dirty and pay the rent. The next mobile killer is a Strategic Mulitichannel Location Based Social Network of Premium Vertical Domains. ‘The Killer Integrator. ” Its Alive! Nite Y’all.
Christ, won’t this moron ever give up? What is he on disability?
“Strategic Mulitichannel Location Based Social Network of Premium Vertical Domains.”
Looks like Yahoo!’s original page. LMAO
WHAT ABOUT SKYPE???
Where on earth is skype for the iPhone?
Skype is a free download, so not a paid app.
I think that most successful iphone apps are following the same business model, except perhaps action games.
I like all the apps I’ve played with, even if its just to show friends how cool the accelerometer is! I vote Steve Jobs for the next pres.
I don’t necessarily agree. I have fallen completely for Twinkle. This app combines twitter with location so anyone who makes a tweet within a certain radius of you shows in your feed. You can reply directly to people in your area.
Just jailbreak your 2.x device (both 3G and 2G devices are supported now) and you can easily get MobileTerminal.app, NES.app and OpenSSH (for SSHing into your device).
http://blog.iphone-dev.org
I think there will be a saturation point, but not anytime soon. Remember, we’re dealing with a new platform here.
If the topic of discussion was a new computer or a new mobile phone as we’ve traditionally known them, the logic of this post would be completely valid. Instead, we’re looking at a device with a new form factor and a combination of features that has never really been compiled before (at least, not well): a phone, a camera, GPS, a music player, a fairly run-of-the-mill computer programming environment, an accelerometer, and more. Developers (and entrepreneurs) are still trying to figure out how best to use this new combination. The killer apps will come at some point (and probably soon), but it’s too early.
You could make the argument that Tap Tap Revenge is a killer app, but it probably won’t cause people to buy an iPhone that otherwise wouldn’t. I don’t think a TTR-like app was on the radars of many people when the App Store launched, but now the combination of interface and technology has led it to be very successful.
The saturation point won’t come until well after most of the innovative ideas about how to use this location-aware, interface-rich device have been executed… and I think we’re going to be here for a while.
Pandora’s iPhone app is pretty killer, I must say. Takes Pandora to a whole new level.
Need flight tracker app!
Oh yeah, and Dizzy Bee app is pretty killer. But then I am rather juvenile.
We’re waiting on the official Skype release
As opposed to the US, here in The Netherlands we have quite the killerapp. http://Www.buienradar.nl shows the weather forcast and where it is raining at the moment and the next couple of hours. The site itself is very popular (with special thanks to the dutch climate). The iPhone app showing the satellite images, but on the go, is doing great here from what I’ve read/seen. Then again, might be a dutch summer thing…
Evernote, 1Password, the Google tool, and MotionX Poker are all very good. The whole iPhone 2.x platform is the killer app.
It’s way too early to call the App Store a failure. In fact, most people are calling it a raving success. Selling $30 million worth of apps the first month is a great start. Keep in mind that Palm’s apps were a major feature of the Palm platform. Vertical apps for specific needs will add tremendous value. Games will do very well. Pandora, games, Twitter apps, dedicated apps like Exposure for Flickr, eBooks and readers and much more. There is a ton of room for improvement and the accelerometer plus great mobile computing and location awareness make the potential huge. There’s a reason for the huge level of excitement and developer interest around here.
Saturation point?
How many PC or Mac applications are there already? How many of them do you actually use on a daily basis? A tiny, tiny percentage.
To suggest that there’s something wrong here, or be negative about the fact that the iPhone has loads of apps seems a bit sensationalistic since actually having so much choice would normally be considered a good thing. Very few users ever install anything on their mobile phones, so this is a step in the right direction for all concerned.
Of course there’s going to be a whole bunch of crap available, the important thing is that it’s easy to filter out in the store so the gems bubble to the top.
Isn’t 3M dollar revenue killer in 30 days?
looks like appstore is the killer app.
Wait, wait, what? The killer app for a phone is ….gasp… a phone?!? Oh the nerve of the world.
Quite honestly, this is a ridiculous article harking back to the launch of basically every new technology, platform, standard, and anything else technical.
Certainly the phone and email are going to be killer apps, it’s a phone and email is ALWAYS the killer app for any platform/device. No news there, move it along, nothing to see.
There are, however, several apps that have blown me away and make me rethink how I use the phone and keep up with life:
* Jott – an amazing iPhone application that makes an interesting web app amazingly useful.
* Pandora – never had interest when it was web app only (no time to listen to music in front of computer), but in the car? Are you kidding me? Wow.
* Things – while helpful in current state, when it starts syncing to my desktop to-do list, I’m going to be incredibly up to date. (it’s coming soon, according to developers)
I don’t use Photoshop, AppZapper, and a range of other apps on my desktop daily but when I need them they’re amazing. Why would you expect the iPhone to be any different?
long tail.
give us a well-organized store with distinct categories and sub categories. There are 46 apps under business. Not really efficient for me to look at each one, when it’s likely that 80% of them aren’t useful to me and could be screened categorically.
Why does any one app need to be a killer app for everyone? As with music, sure, a lot of revenues come from the hits, but the world is interesting because of the long tail that satisfies diverse tastes (and needs).
What I’m more curious about is how long before our fascination with silly apps dies down — put ten iPhone users in a room and they’ll get out PhoneSaber, More Cowbell, Beer and show their favorite games. Exactly this happened over the weekend in a side room during a memorial service for a friend — of course, one of us was a CNet reporter who had two iPhones in his pocket…
I can think of two killer apps.
1. Caissa chess
The chess engine is incredible and I love playing against it whenever I get free time. It is the only app that I’m happy to have paid for. All the others (including SMB) suck
2. Pandora
I have discovered nearly 5-6 new artists. I would have probably never heard of them otherwise (as they don’t seem to be that popular).
Probably don’t agree here. There are a few apps that have been gamechanging to me including Yelp App (super fast to find a good place to eat), Netshare (although its been taken down now, but works awesome), Pandora, Feeds (so I dont have to use the browser as much), etc. Plus a bunch of games that aren’t gamechanging but still very entertaining. I think the more important thing here is that 60m app downloads is very new for a phone platform juxtaposed with a market where typically no one ever uses any apps.
That “Here I Am” app shows promise, though it would better to be able to send your location via SMS as well as email…
“long tail” ’nuff said.
Your analysis could be applied to Facebook as well. The only “killer apps”, are the ones built by Facebook(Wall, Photos, Events, Messaging)…If there was a killer app out there Apple would build it….Come to think of it its a little like MS Windows and MS Office.
‘Apple keeps about 30 percent to cover its costs ‘ Hardly 30% is a pretty decent margin if A/ you don’t have to design or manufacture the product you’re selling B/ you don’t have to hold any physical stock of it.
Apple is coining it in from this.
The real story here is how Apple and Steve Jobs are now perceived as a cross between the United Nations, Walt Disney, and Picasso. When all they do is make pretty decent computer and music players.
Obviously I’m writing this on my very lovely I Mac.
i just still don’t get it. are the majority of folks who fall in love with iphone new to smartphones? i still find the blackberry mail, google talk, facebook, google sync, and gmail app superior. i buy technology for utility purposes. it seems like iphoners buy for vanity (app that looks like you are drinking a glass of beer??).
i guess you can claim integrating the music and video and phone as utility, but can’t you only have one app open at a time?? someone help me out here. the one app at a time seems like a super dumb move on the part of apple.
the ultimate apps are the browser….but i wouldn’t necessarily say email is the other. if you look at the amount of messaging and time spent using IM and commenting on blogs, you may see that they eclipse email.
also, the killer app on the iphone is still meant to be music and vid, via the itunes.
What do u mean there are no killer apps on the iphone.
It ships with some killer apps already.
They are Phone, Mail, Safari, iPod, Maps
Followed by third party killer apps.
Pandora
and more..
The thirdparty apps are purely a matter of preference and what people want to use the iphone for.
So how many jailbroken applications have been downloaded to iphones and ipod touches? That would be an insteresting statistic…..
http://www.schoolshift.com
Your Experience. Your Life. Your School.
I think a definition of “killer app” is in order based on some of these comments. A killer app isn’t simply just a really cool or fun app you like having and using. Technically speaking a killer app is something that people will specifically buy a product just to get.
Pandora may be cool, but is someone going to specifically buy an iPhone to run it? No, probably not.
The likelihood of any third party app becoming a “killer app” would probably be pretty slim. Even on the venerable Palm OS the number of “killer apps” (that people specifically bought and stick with Palm OS devices for) is probably somewhat small; the obvious examples would be something like DateBk on the Palm.
As others have mentioned, the “killer apps” in the case of the iPhone are more likely to be the build in apps…. the iPod app, the Web Browser, etc.
Umm enable flash in safari iphone and poof their is the killer app.
The true web on a mobile Internet device
Killer apps are not those which help you kill time. theyre those which you really need for a specific purpose, and the app serves that purpose. for example collaboration software is very important to companies with distibuted workteams. some companies want their travelling workers to be able to send and receive information, and also work togather on it. such companies would have great use for mobile collaboration software. though there may not be many mass market “killers”, but there are a whole lot of applications which are “killers” in their own niches. for example gchat for IM, skype for voice chat, hyperoffice for mobile colaboration etc.
I suspect we’ve already reached a ’saturation point’, if saturation point is defined as the point where it’s difficult for users to find the best new applications, and where users are starting to lose that ‘got to try them all’ feeling. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with choice, when you’re looking for a new game
There’s no way we’re near a saturation point on the number of different applications that can be made. And the best innovations are undoubtedly still coming – it takes time for the good stuff to get built, and I think we’ll have to wait for a bit of natural iteration to take place before enough people are focusing on building it. The low-hanging fruit tends to get plucked first, especially when the low-hanging fruit leads to real money.
It’d be a shame if the innovative new appliciation development that’s nowhere near the saturation point started to happen less due to the UI and individual application marketing challenges that are starting to present themselves in the present AppStore. These aren’t small problems, either. However, Apple and the application developers are all properly incented to find solutions. It’d surprise me if these problems weren’t eventually overcome.
I use my NYC subway map application of choice quite a bit, along with the Facebook client and one of the games. And the music recognition programs I use a lot during road trips. But yes, I’m using a small fraction of the applications I’ve downloaded, just like everybody else.
Erik, you goon, define “killer app”. What is your 3rd party desktop “killer app”.
I think we’ve reached a point in mobile computing where one person’s killer app isn’t anothers. Thanks to Apple you can have ten apps that all do the same thing meaning no one application is totally unique. And if one is successful, it will be copied.
I use Pandora and Exposure every day. Along with Tuner from Nullriver. For me, mobile streaming radio is the killer app. Who needs Sirius/XM anymore?
Isn’t it just obvious that a KILLER APP would be DICTATION SOFTWARE, like iListen, that would permit a user to dictate an outgoing Email, that could later be retrieved on a home computer, then to be filed or printed?
And also, VOICE DIALING would flow from that.
It seems some define “killer app” as an app that makes people want to buy the iPhone. On record I believe that the SDK is too limited to allow this – you simply can’t get at so much of the OS that it’s hard to utilize the power of the phone (SMS, iTunes library/playlists, etc).
That said, can anyone name an example of an application that drove sales of a hardware platform, when that app wasn’t included as part of the platform? I can’t off hand…
If not it seems this definition of “killer app” is overstretching.
Yes, Deano, such applications DO drive hardware platforms to success. The market for personal computers was driven largely by VisiCalc, a product which was forgotten as Lotus and then Microsoft ripped it off.
The killer app is coming, and not just one but many. The SDK is less then a year old, developers are just scratching the surface of the possibilities. There will be 50 million of these phones in the wild and the best application delivery system in recent history! It will be hard to compete, we all know its all about the software.
The killer app is that people want to download apps. The process is very easy so people are willing to devote the few minutes to download and try. Don’t miss this huge point. Killer apps will come when the distribution channel is so large.
Where on earth is skype for the iPhone
At the moment the “killer app” is a phone that works everywhere!
I find my 3G has terrible reception and the forums are full of similar comments
(linkback) Surprsing or Not? 60 million iPhone app downloads in last 30 days [VOTE] – http://www.thri...rfail.com/6ebc6
I think I could very well call a few of my fav apps killer ..
* Instapaper — How did you miss this?
* pTerm — SSH
* BoxOffice — for Movies etc — this is better than any application I know of
* AOL Radio — very good stations here
* Pandora — Very very awesome
* Aurora Feint — *The* Free game for the iPhone — if you havent played this, you really haven’t played on the iPhone
* Facebook app — I use this on a daily basis to Facebook — I find it far better and easier for posting mesages, checking Wall comments etc (it is limited in many ways but offers a far superior UI that I think the web version does — yep)
* Midomi — You have to see this to believe this (I don’t know of any equivalent anywhere)
Oh.. and the GrandCentral app of course
It AppStore on the iphone is like a microcosm of web2.0 in that its turning out to be this massive idea launch see what sticks and gets adopted place. I agree there a ton of apps some of which actually stick most of which don’t.
I have apps that go into use case categories based on how I plan/want to interact with the phone.
Apps I use all the time.
twinkle, graffritio, sketches, maybe a game or two
Apps that most useful while traveling.
insert LBS app here, food finders etc
Apps that are fun to jam out music with.
beatmaker, idrum, scratch
future deadpool, apps that are basically in the “do i need or want this phase”
lots of apps here
What’s most interesting is how either LBS is taking off or not, and its kind of a catch22 for me. Local LBS does little for me cause i know where stuff is in and around me, I dont need an app to tell me the gas station is in my own home town. Its nice when I travel but if I dont travel then the use is limited. I’m still interested in this data layer out there that apps like graffitio can point you to, the data around you via GPS location, but if theres participation in that space, then its pretty lame.
Its really just one big playground right now and a good place to make a buck or two cause theres no “10 day demo” time to apps, the only way to see if an app is really useful is to either read reviews, research what you can online, or just bite the bullet and throw 3-5 bucks and just see. Time is money, screw it, lemme see.
Skype!
If you define the “killer app” as the primary reason for buying a platform, then the following are the killer apps for the iPhone (note that Apple already thought of the top ones):
1. Cell Phone – the primary reason for buying the iPhone. The iPhone is the best cell phone I have ever used. The scrolling list of contacts, the visual voice mail, the ease of selecting a contact to call, the ease of creating a conference call are reasons for getting the iPhone.
‘2. Web Browser (Safari). If you want the absolutely best smartphone for web browsing, then the iPhone is IT.
3. iPod. The iPhone is THE BEST iPod bar none. I use it more than my other five iPods.
4. Google Maps. This is fantastic for finding the location of restaurants, hotels, etc. It is great for finding you location and determining the route to reach a destination. It is great to be able to see a satellite view of your position or any position on Earth. If it is updated to street view it would be mind blowing.
5. Camera: I use the iPhone more often than my pro-level or digicam. It is simply always in my pocket. If you are creative, then you can do a lot with 2 megapixels.
6. Weather. When you do a lot of traveling, it is great to be able to determine what the weather is going to be like in order to help you pack and plan your activities. I use it all the time.
7. Text Messaging. The iChat-like, Instant messanging-like format of messages on the iPhone makes the iPhone the best text messaging platform. In fact, it is so good, Instant messaging is old school. The touch screen keyboard allows me to write much longer messages (the equivalent of 9-page messages on a regular phone). My daughters thumb-type at very fast rates – faster than on a keypad or thumb-typing physical keyboard. The iPhone takes Text Messaging to a higher level.
8. GAMES. This is obviously the Killer App of the App Store. The iPhone is simply THE BEST smartphone platform for doing games. One poster said an NES emulator was his killer app. But all this implies is that the killer app is GAMES. As John Carmack said, the iPhone has the power of the Playstation in one’s hands. Since the top apps sold are games, obviously GAMES are one big reason to get an iPhone.
9. Ebook Reading. The iPhone allows you to have numerous novels in the palm of your hand. Forget Amazon’s Kindle. The iPhone is much more portable. Through BookZ and Stanza among others, I already have the complete works of Shakespeare, all of Sherlock Holmes, several versons of the Bible, etc. on the iPhone. If you are smart, then you will never get bored on the iPhone.
10. Local-services via GPS. I love Showtimes and BoxOffice and LocalPicks. I can find the restaurants and movie theaters that are nearby to me when I want entertainment. These and other localized serviices are a huge reason to get an iPhone. It makes it so much easier than on any other platform.
11. Clock. The iPhone has been the best travel alarm I have ever had. I can set as many as I need. Why buy another alarm clock when you have it in your pocket?
Etc. Etc.
The iPhone is a developing platform. It will have thousands of apps to choose from in the near future.
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