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An analysis and overview of the APPs BUSINESS that is driving growth in smartphones, tablets, and digital TVs.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Samsung Names Winners in "Free the TV" Developer Challenge
"It's not the race to get the most apps, it's a race to get the right apps," says Samsung-- and they are absolutely correct.
(A quick aside on TVs as a few interesting numbers came out of the Samsung press conference at CES: With 3DTV sales of about 1 million units, Samsung says 3DTV surpasses first-year sales of DVD, HDTV, and Blu-ray. That sounds like a success, despite the controversy. Samsung expects 3DTV sales to grow to 6 million units in 2011 (not just Samsung, of course). But Smart TV will be the larger game with sales expected to be 9 million.)
But how do you get the right apps? You throw money at it....
Thus, the Samsung $500,000 Free the TV Developer Challenge.
Olivier Manuel, Director of Content at Samsung, said the company hit 1 million downloads of Samsung TV apps—an industry first--more than a month ago.
Now their Free the TV Developer Challenge in USA has picked 13 winners...
The winning app, walking away with $200,000, is WeDraw, a social game for home, a sort of digital Pictionary.
Gym Box (home workout app) took second place, Armchair Astronaut (hi-def space exploration) was 3rd, and New Mote (social TV listings) won readers' choice.
The most interesting fact is there seemed to be only 56 applications. Thirteen out of 56 won...doesn't seem like bad odds for developers out there.
AND NOW FOR EUROPE...public voting has just started for the 500,000 euro Samsung SmartTV Challenge in Europe
AND NOW FOR EUROPE...public voting has just started for the 500,000 euro Samsung SmartTV Challenge in Europe
(A quick aside on TVs as a few interesting numbers came out of the Samsung press conference at CES: With 3DTV sales of about 1 million units, Samsung says 3DTV surpasses first-year sales of DVD, HDTV, and Blu-ray. That sounds like a success, despite the controversy. Samsung expects 3DTV sales to grow to 6 million units in 2011 (not just Samsung, of course). But Smart TV will be the larger game with sales expected to be 9 million.)
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Mac App Store: 1 Million Downloads in First Day
It took the Mac App Store less than one day to hit 1 million downloads.
Evernote, for example, saw 90,000 client downloads between the store launch and midnight Jan. 7th. CEO Phil Libin was quoted by GigaOM as saying: “...We initially thought that since so much of our user base was coming from mobile, that was the key distribution platform. But maybe it isn’t mobile that’s important, maybe it’s the well-designed app store.”
The Mac App Store, according to a number of industry analysts, may become the default way to download software onto the Mac. That level of disruption would change the way all software is delivered to PCs.
Just like the App Store Beat iTunes to 10 Billion Downloads by 6 Years, we may find Mac App Store to be a surprisingly richer development than we ever expected.
Evernote, for example, saw 90,000 client downloads between the store launch and midnight Jan. 7th. CEO Phil Libin was quoted by GigaOM as saying: “...We initially thought that since so much of our user base was coming from mobile, that was the key distribution platform. But maybe it isn’t mobile that’s important, maybe it’s the well-designed app store.”
The Mac App Store, according to a number of industry analysts, may become the default way to download software onto the Mac. That level of disruption would change the way all software is delivered to PCs.
Just like the App Store Beat iTunes to 10 Billion Downloads by 6 Years, we may find Mac App Store to be a surprisingly richer development than we ever expected.
Connected TV Means New Players
In our sister publication for consumer electronics, On CE, I predicted last year that 3D TV would be less significant than Connected TV. This year's CES certainly had enough of both. Yet, in 2011, it seems clearer than Connected TV will be the bigger play. And apps will be the driving force...
That reminded me of a conversation I had at Berlin IFA. The earliest adopter in Europe of Android TV is an interesting company in Sweden called People of Lava. I spoke to Christian Svantesson, owner and Johan Lantz, Business Developer about the challenges of launching Connected TV.
People of Lava make Scandinavian-designed HD LED TV with an Android engine. Like the big TV makers, Samsung or Sony, this Swedish company discovered it had to be in the app business to be in the Connected TV business. They were so early on the Connected TV curve, People of Lava felt compelled to create a few apps just to be to explain and sell their TVs.
"Our intention is not to be app developers, rather aggregators, supporters and advocates of TV apps," says Johan Lantz. "... the amount of apps we will develop ourselves will be limited. We are first and foremost TV manufacturers. Consequently, we will focus our in-house development on apps with a high degree of uniqueness, which of course can be charged for. We might also to a certain extent focus app development on ‘holes’ in the market place, thus acting pathfinders for other developers."
I believe as Connected TV rolls out (of course, not without the traditional problem of lack of cooperation with Hollywood, cable TV companies etc) that Android will inspire more new brands to enter the TV market. Yes, Google TV got off to a bad start as many companies seek to discourage Google as a disruptor in their industry.
I can hear your scepticism bouncing off the screen you are reading this on: "How can anyone expect to crack the entry into the TV business?" you ask. Fair enough question...
If you had asked that in mobile phones, you might have bet against HTC. If you had asked that, you may have been against a new portable PC form factor like iPAD.
In TV, we can actually point to a few examples. In USA, the brand Vizio has now ranked No. 1 in more than several quarters of TV sales-- and ranks consistently among the top brands like Sony, Samsung and Sharp.
In Belgium, the young brand Q-Media has last year cracked the GfK list of best-selling TVs.
All across Europe, new companies are gearing up with Android TV. Last year Netherland's MediaLine won the Best Product Award at RetailVision Europe.
Logitech will be back with Google TV. And rumours still think Apple will make its move in TV.
App developers who look to Connected TV to bring growth similar to mobile apps, should be aware of this wave of new niche and challenger brands of TV. These TV makers will be better partners than big brands and your apps may be featured instead of buried in a pack. Like People of Lava, like Samsung and other big brands, every Connected TV maker will find a need to either aggregate or cooperate with an app aggregator to properly enter the market in Europe.
It's not your father's TV set any more. And it probably won't be the brands your father appreciated. The disruption is just beginning...
That reminded me of a conversation I had at Berlin IFA. The earliest adopter in Europe of Android TV is an interesting company in Sweden called People of Lava. I spoke to Christian Svantesson, owner and Johan Lantz, Business Developer about the challenges of launching Connected TV.
People of Lava make Scandinavian-designed HD LED TV with an Android engine. Like the big TV makers, Samsung or Sony, this Swedish company discovered it had to be in the app business to be in the Connected TV business. They were so early on the Connected TV curve, People of Lava felt compelled to create a few apps just to be to explain and sell their TVs.
"Our intention is not to be app developers, rather aggregators, supporters and advocates of TV apps," says Johan Lantz. "... the amount of apps we will develop ourselves will be limited. We are first and foremost TV manufacturers. Consequently, we will focus our in-house development on apps with a high degree of uniqueness, which of course can be charged for. We might also to a certain extent focus app development on ‘holes’ in the market place, thus acting pathfinders for other developers."
I believe as Connected TV rolls out (of course, not without the traditional problem of lack of cooperation with Hollywood, cable TV companies etc) that Android will inspire more new brands to enter the TV market. Yes, Google TV got off to a bad start as many companies seek to discourage Google as a disruptor in their industry.
I can hear your scepticism bouncing off the screen you are reading this on: "How can anyone expect to crack the entry into the TV business?" you ask. Fair enough question...
If you had asked that in mobile phones, you might have bet against HTC. If you had asked that, you may have been against a new portable PC form factor like iPAD.
In TV, we can actually point to a few examples. In USA, the brand Vizio has now ranked No. 1 in more than several quarters of TV sales-- and ranks consistently among the top brands like Sony, Samsung and Sharp.
In Belgium, the young brand Q-Media has last year cracked the GfK list of best-selling TVs.
All across Europe, new companies are gearing up with Android TV. Last year Netherland's MediaLine won the Best Product Award at RetailVision Europe.
Logitech will be back with Google TV. And rumours still think Apple will make its move in TV.
App developers who look to Connected TV to bring growth similar to mobile apps, should be aware of this wave of new niche and challenger brands of TV. These TV makers will be better partners than big brands and your apps may be featured instead of buried in a pack. Like People of Lava, like Samsung and other big brands, every Connected TV maker will find a need to either aggregate or cooperate with an app aggregator to properly enter the market in Europe.
It's not your father's TV set any more. And it probably won't be the brands your father appreciated. The disruption is just beginning...
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Microsoft Wants "App Store" Declared Generic
Microsoft wants the U.S. Patent and Trademark to reject Apple’s 2008 request to trademark “App Store.” That's a nice competitive move if the Seattle giant can prevail over Silicon Valley.
"App Store" is too generic, like a shoe maker trying to claim the rights to "Shoe Store," says the argument against Apple.
"Ah, yes," answers the other side. "But in this case, the App in App Store stands for Apple. After we have built it in our name and made it famous, other folks shouldn't be able to jump onto our bandwagon and adopt it. "
Presumably the others should use "Application Store" as a moniker.
Our opinion: App Store is so flagrantly used that Apple cannot possibly defend it. To defend their claim, Apple would have to attack all press, bloggers etc who use the expressseion indiscriminately. Xerox tried that years ago (before internet) but once the public has the phrase in their head (and on their tongues), you can't hold the dam from breaking. Public use, not Microsoft, puts a phrase into generic use. What Apple can indeed defend is a particular logo that demonstrates ownership.
That's probably how the solons of court will sort the App from the Store...
"App Store" is too generic, like a shoe maker trying to claim the rights to "Shoe Store," says the argument against Apple.
"Ah, yes," answers the other side. "But in this case, the App in App Store stands for Apple. After we have built it in our name and made it famous, other folks shouldn't be able to jump onto our bandwagon and adopt it. "
Presumably the others should use "Application Store" as a moniker.
Our opinion: App Store is so flagrantly used that Apple cannot possibly defend it. To defend their claim, Apple would have to attack all press, bloggers etc who use the expressseion indiscriminately. Xerox tried that years ago (before internet) but once the public has the phrase in their head (and on their tongues), you can't hold the dam from breaking. Public use, not Microsoft, puts a phrase into generic use. What Apple can indeed defend is a particular logo that demonstrates ownership.
That's probably how the solons of court will sort the App from the Store...
Monday, January 10, 2011
Year End Report: How Many Apps are Out There?
Apple App Store for iPhone doubled during 2010 reaching almost 300,000 applications, while the number of applications for the Android Market reached almost 130,000 (6X the Android apps available one year ago). BlackBerry App World (18,000 apps) and Nokia Ovi Store (25,000 apps) both showed triple digit growth in the last year.
No surprise but consumers prefer FREE apps, so developers must experiment with monetization methods other than paid up-front. While the proportion of free applications grew, the average price of the applications also declined for the 100 most popular applications in the Apple App Store for iPhone, BlackBerry App World, Google Android Market and Nokia Ovi Store.
The download ratio between FREE and PAID is 10:1. According to Distimo, the top 300 free applications in USA generated, on average, over 3 million downloads each day during December 2010 versus the paid applications 350,000 downloaded daily. Yet paid downloads increased almost 30% more than free downloads in the top 300 (comparing the download figures of December 2010 versus June 2010).
Comparing June to December in USA, the share of revenue generated by in-app purchases from the most grossing free applications more than doubled for both the iPhone and iPad. But the share of revenue generated by in-app purchases from free applications is much smaller on iPad (15%) compared to iPhone (34%).
This Distimo Report confirms what the market instinctively knows: you have to get the consumer's attention and then find a way to monetize. That's makes it a harsh commercial environment, but to thrive as a paid app... you have to be a super-app.
No surprise but consumers prefer FREE apps, so developers must experiment with monetization methods other than paid up-front. While the proportion of free applications grew, the average price of the applications also declined for the 100 most popular applications in the Apple App Store for iPhone, BlackBerry App World, Google Android Market and Nokia Ovi Store.
The download ratio between FREE and PAID is 10:1. According to Distimo, the top 300 free applications in USA generated, on average, over 3 million downloads each day during December 2010 versus the paid applications 350,000 downloaded daily. Yet paid downloads increased almost 30% more than free downloads in the top 300 (comparing the download figures of December 2010 versus June 2010).
Comparing June to December in USA, the share of revenue generated by in-app purchases from the most grossing free applications more than doubled for both the iPhone and iPad. But the share of revenue generated by in-app purchases from free applications is much smaller on iPad (15%) compared to iPhone (34%).
This Distimo Report confirms what the market instinctively knows: you have to get the consumer's attention and then find a way to monetize. That's makes it a harsh commercial environment, but to thrive as a paid app... you have to be a super-app.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
300,000 Apps in Just over 3 Years, Says IDC
Application developers have churned out more than 300,000 mobile apps in just over three years, says IDC.
In 2010, mobile apps made the leap from the smartphone to media tablets. In 2011 and beyond, mobile apps will find their way into even more devices, including connected TVs and, by extension, the connected home.
According to a new International Data Corporation (IDC) forecast, the market for mobile applications will continue to accelerate as the number of downloaded apps is expected to increase from 10.9 billion worldwide in 2010 to 76.9 billion in 2014.
Worldwide mobile apps revenues will experience similar growth, surpassing $35 billion in 2014.
"Mobile app developers will 'appify' just about every interaction you can think of in your physical and digital worlds," notes Scott Ellison, VP Mobile and Wireless research at IDC. "The extension of mobile apps to every aspect of our personal and business lives will be one of the hallmarks of the new decade with enormous opportunities for virtually every business sector."
These numbers from IDC make other estimates low...
In 2010, mobile apps made the leap from the smartphone to media tablets. In 2011 and beyond, mobile apps will find their way into even more devices, including connected TVs and, by extension, the connected home.
According to a new International Data Corporation (IDC) forecast, the market for mobile applications will continue to accelerate as the number of downloaded apps is expected to increase from 10.9 billion worldwide in 2010 to 76.9 billion in 2014.
Worldwide mobile apps revenues will experience similar growth, surpassing $35 billion in 2014.
"Mobile app developers will 'appify' just about every interaction you can think of in your physical and digital worlds," notes Scott Ellison, VP Mobile and Wireless research at IDC. "The extension of mobile apps to every aspect of our personal and business lives will be one of the hallmarks of the new decade with enormous opportunities for virtually every business sector."
These numbers from IDC make other estimates low...
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