Posted on 12/05/2008 9:33:10 PM PST by Swordmaker
You may have seen the Apple advertisement in the New York Times this morning (back page of the Business section) extolling the virtues of the iPhone. Nothing new there.
If you made it through the fine print, you may have noticed that there are now 10,000 applications available for iPhone and the iPod Touch available on the App Store. Nothing new there, either.
What is new, and absolutely stunning, is the small print at the bottom of today's ad. Apple now says that iPhone users have "downloaded over 300 million" applications from the App Store, from games to business programs. Why is that stunning? Consider that on the company's conference call on October 21, Apple disclosed that the following day, Apple expected users to download their 200 millionth app. Which means, as of today, users have downloaded a staggering 100 million apps in just the past 6 weeks.
So all that talk of a "bubble" in apps demand was just that, talk! Experts expected an initial big shot in the arm, and that demand would trail off as the weeks passed by. These figures suggest that the app store is only gaining momentum, and it's another big reason for users to choose iPhone over Research in Motion's [RIMM 39.49 2.29 (+6.16%) ] BlackBerry, which has a nascent app store of its own, but is nowhere near as robust as Apple's. The iPhone/iPod/iTunes/App Store eco-system just makes it that much easier to stay inside the Apple world, rather than having to search high and low on the net for music, movies and apps from one site to the next. And when it comes to new technology, "easy" is the name of the game.
"It's unbelievable," says Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster. "It's a differentiator. We think in '09, it's going to be a $1 billion market place and Apple will probably take about 30 percent of that. There's virtually no operating expense for them. They just approve the apps. It increases our confidence that" Apple can make these numbers.
Hell Freezes: Piper Lowers Apple Target I have written extensively about the importance of the Apple App Store to the iPhone; that iPhone is more a platform than merely another Apple device. The App Store could someday (maybe sooner than we thought?) match, or even supplant iTunes as a top profit center, and something that likely hasn't been figured into many earnings models. At least not to the extent that the store is growing today.
IPhone's momentum only stands to gain traction as more and more developers come up with new programs for customers to buy. It's a device that doesn't need conventional, hardware upgrading from Apple if there's a massive, grassroots movement to update the device by offering new programs. Thousands of them. And once again, the Apple model is working. Big time.

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Look for those numbers to triple if the $99 IPhone rumors become true.
Apple-bashing Microsoft trolls to appear in...3...2...1...
The iPhone and iPod are, while pretty, DRM-infested crap.
Much like a streetwalker.
:P
Apple suxs!11! LOL!
HAX0R!
Microsoft RuLZ!
There you go. Enjoy!
:-P
I spent upwards of 12 hours every day working on a computer, with a 1600x1200 main screen and a 1280-wide secondary screen, and the last thing I want is the temptation to stare at some tiny cramped screen in my hand for the other 6 hours I'm awake.
But I'm glad Apple's doing well with the product line.
The iPhone and iPod do not put DRM on anything that doesn’t have it before you put it on the device.
Your evil master’s product, Zune, DRM’s EVERYTHING that goes on the device, whether it had DRM before or not!
Which one is the streetwalker, again?
I don't know about the streetwalker, or the iPhone, DRM-wise; but in all the years I had three iPods, I never had ONE SINGLE DRM-infested tune on them. Just MP3s, all legal -- ripped by me from my CDs, or downloaded from eMusic.com.
The common misconception that iPods only play DRM-infested crap is a lie.
I refuse to have any DRM in my house, car, or life. Hasn't bothered my iPods one bit.
Turns out that on the iPhone I can carry around the service and owner’s manual, in PDF format, of every vehicle I own. Quite handy.
More importantly, the PDF rendering engine isn’t some hacked together pile slapped on top of Windows Mobile, so the PDF’d wiring diagrams are actually visible and legible - and therefore useful.
Thanks, I needed that....
Microsoft has been caught as being behind the “iPods only play DRM music” whispering campaign - they use it to either try to drive Zune sales, or to try to excuse the Zune DRM.
Well, people did actually buy Windows Vista....
I own an iPod and a couple of generic MP3 players. :)
Filled with pirated music and stuff I ripped to open formats myself.
Which one is the streetwalker, again?
Consider it a left-handed compliment. Apple is sexy and everyone wants her, but she charges you an arm and a leg... and part of your dignity.
Not if you have my eyes. I'm 56, male, and have to carry three sets of glasses around: close-focus (15"), computer-screen (24"), and progressive trifocal (24"-to-infinity) for driving and normal activities.
It's actually quite a strain for me to stare more than about 5 minutes at something small held in my hand (no manhood jokes please!). A big screen across the room allows my eyes to relax.
Oh, I know the iPod will play non-DRMed files.
Doesn't play FLAC files, tho. ;)
You're surprised at rampant ignorance, after the recent election?
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