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Wit h roughly half a mi llion active apps available for download and a current
pace of 20,000 new apps approved every month (according to 148apps.biz), the
iOS App Store has been without doubt a phenomenal success. From its launch in
2008, it’s seen exponential growth both in revenue generated and apps created,
and it continues to flourish.
You may have heard the early success stories of lone programmers making thousands
per day in revenue off of experimental apps. From then on, it wasn’t long
before larger sums of money were being thrown at app development from more
major players and venture capitalists, and it’s been that way ever since.
Though the App Store is showing no signs of weakening, it is becoming increasingly
top-heavy. For example, depending on your niche, the top 20 percent of apps
may do well in terms of numbers of downloads, but as you’ll see later in the book,
after that, the numbers drop significantly.
The type of success that many developers aspire to (such as the success of the
“Angry Birds” application) is relatively unique, but there is still great opportunity
in the App Store frontier, and lessons to be learned from both success stories and
failures. Trends are shifting greatly from old business models to new, and, in this
book, you will find them covered in detail. |