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App Store Derived Economy

Posted by taigezhang On February - 14 - 2010

There has been immense interest in the App Store. It has 28,000 developers who have made 140,000 apps to date. It’s amazing how much energy has been diverted to the iPhone and now the iPad platform. In its 18 month history, the App Store has a dramatic impact on our lives, not just as consumers, but has changed businesses around the world. It amazes me.

What I have seen:
Developers quitting their jobs and starting their own companies selling apps. Companies allocating resources and departments to making apps. VCs investing $24 million into an iPhone app and creating funds dedicated to app development. Companies piggybacking on the usefulness of apps. Companies extending their service to mobile. Millions of websites reviewing apps. Companies being threaten by apps.

I’m not even mentioning the impact of the iPhone itself.

If apps are the equivalent  of software, then Apple is Microsoft now. If the app store is the web, then Apple is Yahoo. I wonder who will emerge as Google. Just a thought.