There is planet of money in mobile phones and subscriptions, but there are also plenty of cash changing hands in the world of App development.
If you think that apps are not that important, take a moment to remember the fact that Apple was willing to fully antagonize Adobe in order to have full control of apps made for the iPhone (if you can only use Apple’s SDK tools, then your app would not be multi-platform compatible, as opposed to making an App using Adobe’s Flash Pro program).
Yes, it is important to get apps, these additional software downloads are more than just customization features, they also provide manufacturers and developer sight plenty of earnings. According to some reports, mobile network operators and several other groups all over the world have been gathering together to come up with a single unified app platform. This is being done in order to counteract the market monopoly of Apple and also, the curb the growing threat that is Google’s Android.
It is a well known fact that earnings that are generated by app downloads go directly to the developers and the manufacturer, but never the network operator. This tie up between major operators and companies will be comprised of Sharp, Samsung, LG, RIM, Vodafone, NTT DoCoMo, and several other companies.
Of course, it will be a while before this gathering will be considered as a real threat to Google and Apple. But with their open source OS that uses the LiMo platform, it is likely that the Android Marketplace and the Apps Store will be getting in for a serious fight.
In terms of apps available, there is no doubt that the companies involved will be able to attract plenty of developer and ultimately app support thanks to the vast expanse of cross system compatibility –which means that they can potentially provide the largest customer base as the platform will be spanning the most number of handsets.
Tags: Apple, BlackBerry, DoCoMo, Google, Google-Android, LG, Samsung, Vodafone