When Apple announced in April, 2009 that users had downloaded over a billion apps from their site in only eighteen months, many believed a new industry had been born. And when the company returned six months later and announced that users had downloaded another billion apps, people were sure of it.
As you might imagine, this news served as a clarion call to all of the other smart phone makers that they had better get to work. Since then companies have been releasing new smart phone apps as expeditiously as they possibly can in a mad attempt to catch up to Apple. But the maker of the iPhone is out to an impressive lead and has at their disposable an even more impressive catalogue.
Currently, it consists of more than 100,000 apps, with more being added everyday. While many of these apps are paid apps, more than 5,000 of them can be downloaded from the companies App Site for free. Though other companies offer free apps, Apple is far and away the industry leader.
Why? While there is no easy answer, all evidence points to younger users. The fact is that Apple offers a greater variety of fun and sometimes free mobile games. These are often nothing more than mini video games that users can play whenever the mood strikes them. But still, they are insanely popular.
In fact, according to recent reports, most of the apps that are being downloaded are entertainment apps, and most of them are mobile games. As you can see, this is a market that is being driven by young people.
