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iOS App Store Booming: Per-Device Downloads and Average Sales Price Increasing

Monday July 11, 2011 8:17 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Fortune reports on a new note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who for some time has been keeping tabs on the performance of Apple's App Store using calculations of download rates and other metrics against number of devices sold. According to Munster, iOS device owners are increasing their usage of the App Store in 2011, downloading more apps as the average sales price for paid apps has rebounded after dropping last year.
- More apps: The average iOS device owner will download 83 apps in 2011 vs. 51 in 2010, a 61% increase year over year. "Smartphone users are showing an increasing appetite to use apps to add features to their phones," Munster writes, "and iOS has the leading app ecosystem."

- More expensive apps: The ASP (average selling price) per app is rebounding. ASPs are up 14% y/y in 20111 vs. an 18% decline in 2010. "After the initial race to the bottom in App Store pricing," says Munster, "we are seeing users pay up to add features and games to their iOS devices."
Munster reports that 82% of App Store activity is from free apps, while the 18% of downloads that are paid apps carry an average selling price of $1.44. Munster notes that the recent increase in average selling price seems to be driven by the iPad, which in general sees higher average app prices than the iPhone and iPod touch.

Apple last week announced that the App Store had reached 15 billion downloads since its inception three years ago. Still, App Store revenue represents only about 1% of Apple's overall revenue and is viewed primarily as a driver of Apple's hardware sales.
[ 72 comments ]

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*LTD*
24 months ago
The only truly viable App Store.

The best apps. The most apps. And devs actually make money. :eek:
Rating: 13 Positives
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Popeye206
24 months ago

I'd use the app store if there were a way to put apps on my wife's mac other than my creating an account on it, which is ridiculous.


You realize that with most software licensing and protection schemes this is hard to do at all with traditional activation schemes.

My point being... you're upset about something that's restricted under most methods. :)
Rating: 11 Positives
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roadbloc
24 months ago
20111 is a long time away.
Rating: 8 Positives
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Slurpy2k8
24 months ago
Fantastic news. Means users see value in mobile apps, and dont view them as trash, useless, or worth nothing. These kind of metrics are just as important, if not more important than unit sales, etc. Android may be ahead in pure sales, which is inevitable, but it is leagues behind in ecosystem and the investment than users actually place in the os once they own it.
Rating: 5 Positives
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Consultant
24 months ago

The App Store would make a lot more money if they had a multi-user licensing model in place or corp purchase model. If Apple did this we could save millions of dollars a year relying on third party purchasing companies and purchasing staff. As it stands now we can't even use the App Store due to licensing.

We budget in the millions for software per year across our company.

On another note I still haven't bought anything from the Mac App store.


If your "company" actually has that kind of budget, they would know that Apple offers mass deploying / licensing for enterprise.
Rating: 5 Positives
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talkingfuture
24 months ago
I would assume that the cost increase is covered by the increase in iPad apps which tend to be priced a little higher than their iPhone counterparts
Rating: 4 Positives
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chocolaterabbit
24 months ago

Wonder why you are down ranked for speaking the truth. :confused:


because it's not true. there is more than one viable app store out there
Rating: 4 Positives
Avatar
Popeye206
24 months ago

The only truly viable App Store.

The best apps. The most apps. And devs actually make money. :eek:


That's what it's all about. Developers have to make money. Free only goes so far before you have to pay the bills and eat. :D

Apple is doing a good job helping developers make money by making it organized and easy for millions to buy.
Rating: 3 Positives
Avatar
kdarling
24 months ago

The only truly viable App Store.

The best apps. The most apps. And devs actually make money. :eek:


Yep, some devs make money.

$2.5 billion in royalties paid out over 80,000 paid iOS apps.

Other viable (and older) app stores are the ones for BREW apps for dumbphones. Verizon's is probably the best known. $3 billion in royalties paid out to the developers of just 18,000 apps.
Rating: 3 Positives
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huntson
24 months ago

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif]Image (http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/11/ios-app-store-booming-per-device-downloads-and-average-sales-price-increasing/)[/url]


Image (http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2011/05/app_store_icon.jpg)

Fortune reports (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/07/11/apple-users-buying-61-more-apps-paying-14-more-per-app/) on a new note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who for some time has been keeping tabs on the performance of Apple's App Store using calculations of download rates and other metrics against number of devices sold. According to Munster, iOS device owners are increasing their usage of the App Store in 2011, downloading more apps as the average sales price for paid apps has rebounded after dropping last year.Munster reports that 82% of App Store activity is from free apps, while the 18% of downloads that are paid apps carry an average selling price of $1.44. Munster notes that the recent increase in average selling price seems to be driven by the iPad, which in general sees higher average app prices than the iPhone and iPod touch.

Apple last week announced (http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/07/apples-app-store-hits-15-billion-downloads/) that the App Store had reached 15 billion downloads since its inception three years ago. Still, App Store revenue represents only about 1% of Apple's overall revenue and is viewed primarily as a driver of Apple's hardware sales.

Article Link: iOS App Store Booming: Per-Device Downloads and Average Sales Price Increasing (http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/11/ios-app-store-booming-per-device-downloads-and-average-sales-price-increasing/)


20111 - really?
Rating: 3 Positives

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