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It has revolutionised the mobile phone market and created an army of bedroom geeks trying to be the next "app millionaire".
Apple's App Store, for its iPhone and iPod Touch, is a simple idea - small bits of software you can download to your phone to add a game or some other application to it.
Yet in just 16 months it has become a massive cultural and financial phenomenon. At any dinner party in the capital there's a good chance someone will whip out their iPhone and show off their latest bit of software.
Meanwhile, in bedrooms across London developers are toiling away on their own software in the hope it could one day made them rich and allow them to give up their jobs.
The figures are phenomenal: more than 100,000 applications are now available, covering everything from the latest must-have game to satnav software.
More than two billion apps, which range in price from free to more than £600, have been downloaded to the 50 million iPhones and iPod Touches that can run them.
Even Apple admits it has been taken aback by the runaway success.
"The App Store changed everything," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president for iPod and iPhone product marketing.
Soft-spoken and with a penchant for floral shirts, Joswiak is genuinely enthusiastic about the software, and says he's filled his own phone with apps.
He is the man behind the App Store and responsible for the massive marketing machine that has created a vast TV and print advertising campaign.
Joswiak, based in Apple's Cupertino headquarters, granted the Standard a rare interview at the firm's Regent Street store, where he showed off some of the latest applications, including multiplayer games allowing players to compete online or, in the case of a new Harry Potter game, by standing in front of each other and waving their phone about like a lunatic.
"The App Store has just continued to go beyond anyone's expectations. We now have more than 100,000 applications for sale in just 16 months. Nobody could have ever imagined it being so successful."
One of the most important aspects of the store is that it allows smaller developers to easily make their creations available.
"The App Store really levels the playing field for the small guys, who just couldn't write for other games systems because it is so expensive," said Joswiak.
London in particular has become a hub for iPhone development, and hundreds of part time programmers are dotted across the capital.
When developers write software, they agree to give Apple 30 per cent of the revenue but this still leaves enough profit to replace a salary, and there is even talk of app millionaires being created, although both Apple and the developers are cagey on the exact numbers.
Iain Thain runs the London iPhone Developers Group, which has more than 350 members, and meets every month.
"I think London is unique is having this social community of developers," he said. "We started off with an online group a few months ago and we are now up to 350 members.
"We have about 45 applications developed by members currently available to buy. Other members see that and realise that if they come up with a good application they could make a living from it."
Reader views (8)
@Jason Dunne
"imagine the size of the opportunity once most people have phones that can run apps"
Jason, most people do have phones that can run apps, and that's been the case for quite some time. What's different now is that Apple have created a way for people to buy them easily, through a tightly controlled vertically integrated market. They can do that because they have only very few devices to support. Once the big players have figured out how to maintain security and quality for 100s of different devices simultaneously, the flood gates will open (assuming searching for apps doesn't become overwhelming). Nokia has "Ovi", RIM the "Blackerry App World", Samsung their "Application Store", Orange the "Application Shop", Vodafone "Apps & Extras". They are all at it now.
Then, after a brief burst of excitement, the market will collapse and support just a very few professional players.
- Ian, York, UK
Apple are cagey about the numbers of App millionaires simply because there are so few of them. Only a very small percentage of the Apps recover their development costs, let alone the total cost of ownership. And that's fair enough: do it 'cos it's fun, but don't give up the day job.
Other platforms are just as easy to develop for and have an addressable market that's ten times bigger. Now that Apple have shown the way to reach the market, Nokia, RIM, et al will very quickly overtake their download figures.
- Ian, York, UK
Its not about the money, its about the passion. Its about the iPhone being the true product of choice for the appreciator of quality. A product you want to see your passion born onto. You shouldn't chase the dream if that very dream is to make money. Instead chase the dream that is 'to be seen to produce the best experience'. One day it will pay off. Cream rises. And cream finds a way to keep going. Even if it goes off.
- @Millsustwo, London
I can second that notion that you cant plan on giving up your day job just yet - but it might happen. My first App ITGO - Interval Trainer GO was chosen last week and this week as an Apple Staff favourite in the US store and several around the world (no I dont know anyone at Apple) and the exposure caused a very good boost in sales. My App is a niche App and as such didnt grap 10,000 downloads per day like the #1 paid top App usually do and seeing what my daily sales were and co-relating it to my rankings was very revealing. i.e a lot of developers aren't making any money at all.
As someone else noted, now the biggest problem is getting your App noticed and unless you're lucky to get an Apple Feature like I did , you could easily spend several times more than what it costs to develop the App on Marketing. The results of which are really still very hit and miss with many 'service providers' springing up to willingly take developers money.
I will say this though;- for some lucky few who do get an Apple Feature or a great review on a big website or blog, and have an App that has mass appeal (ie. a game) you can make some very serious money indeed.
Just remember in the App Store, the "90/10" rule of life still Applies...
Owen
- Owen H, London UK
The real beauty of it is that it frees you from all marketing, sales, promotion, packaging, billing, collecting, everything except programming. Also, the entry cost is almost nothing, all you need is a fairly modern Mac, which costs no more than a decently configured PC. Once you have your app working it's $99 a year to develop on device (testing on your own iPod/iPhone). That's it.
There has been a LOT of money made, and most is going to smaller shops, not the big programming houses.
- Brian, USA
In the early days the quality of apps was lower and getting seen (making lots of money) was easier.
I'm not giving up my day job but an additional source of income is certainly welcome. I write my app on the train every morning, I actually look forward to my commute.
What I'm hearing from some well known developers is that it's more likely you could make a 'middle-class' income.
You need to be motivated by more than just money to keep at it.
- Andrew Stephenson, London, UK
Jules- it's early days. The iPhone is only 1% of the world's mobile phones. If 1% of phones can prompt 2 billion downloads since July 2008 (that's over 200k per hour, every hour, for nineteen months straight), imagine the size of the opportunity once most people have phones that can run apps.
- Jason Dunne, United Kingdom
The notion that you can become a millionaire through an iPhone app is pretty remote. I'm in the industry and the price point of apps on the app store is so low and the app store so crowded with junk that you now need to spend many multiples more on marketing that on development to get any traction. The big development houses have moved in too with their big budgets.
A bedroom designer would need to come up with an insanely original idea and then somehow gain the attention of bloggers and the media amongst the 100,000 plus other apps.
Much as Apple love the kinds of headlines generated by articles such as this, the reality is that there is no pot of gold at the end of the app store rainbow. Don't quit your day job.
- Jules Ehrhardt, London, UK
