In the early days, the App Store resembled more of a Western frontier, ripe for exploitation by fast-moving entrepreneurs. And we've benefited from that." New challengeįor independent or hobbyist developers, it's a new, though not unexpected, challenge trying to compete with the big names. "You'll go to someone with a reputation you can trust. "There are 100,000 apps in the store, and if there are 100 good photo apps, who will you go to?" said Adobe's Geoff Baum, director of product management and marketing for. And having recognizable brands certainly helps cut through the volume of applications.
Mobile remains the top free photo app while SketchBook Mobile is the 25th-best selling entertainment app.įor big companies, the App Store, with its base of 50 million iPhones and iPod Touches, is a logical place to be. Adobe brought Mobile to the App Store last month while Autodesk released SketchBook Mobile in September.
Other big-name software companies such as Adobe and Autodesk have also recently released apps. These companies represent half of the top 30 paid gaming apps. Other mobile gaming companies such as Gameloft, Glu and PopCap Games compete with newer well-funded iPhone-focused startups such as Ngmoco, SGN and Tapulous, which have grown quickly. Many of the games draw on popular EA franchises like Madden, FIFA, Rock Band and NBA Live. 1 game developer for the iPhone with 30 games, including a dozen titles released in the last three months. The market is too big."įreeverse, which licensed the name Skee-Ball, is just one of a number of companies that are developing more apps for the iPhone.Įlectronic Arts, the second-largest gaming company by revenue, has become the No. "I think the early 'rags to riches' stories that fueled a lot of App Store hype were mostly luck it was a result of getting there first when the store was relatively sparsely populated," said Sean Heber, a software engineer who developed Ramp Champ for Iconfactory and DS MediaLabs. It's causing independent developers to rethink their approaches, become more innovative and reminisce about the early days of the App Store.
The larger companies boast name and brand recognition, allowing them to stand out at a time when the store offers 100,000 programs. With its success, the App Store has attracted the interest of established software companies, who are focusing on the new opportunity and turning it into more of a conventional software marketplace.