When one considers the Apple App Store, there are a lot of amazing numbers to think about. Two of them are that there are over 6,000 games available out of more than 27,000 apps.

Even given how popular the iPhone and iPod Touch platforms have become, 27,131 apps is a lot of apps. And it probably says something about the platforms themselves that so many of them are games and that there is such an amazing variety of apps that are not. The popularity of these platforms cut across so many age groups and types of users that this is probably the only way it could have turned out. Together, the iPhone and the touch represent the Renaissance Man of the mobile marketplace.

Taken all together, 27,131 applications are available at the App store. Content requiring payment totals 20,972 (77.3 percent) while free content comes to  6,159 apps (22.7 percent), according to a GamaSutra article. Other significant categories in the App store include books with 2,450 representatives, platform utilities with 2,319 applications, and education with 1,886 entries. Again, these apps are nothing if not spread across a wide range.

The iPhone / iPod Touch format has attracted a great deal of interest from companies which produce traditional video games since the App Store opened in July of 2008. As one example,  mobile developer Gameloft recently admitted the the Apple App Store was indeed its largest customer. For the record, 75.8 percent  of the apps in the games category must be paid for, with only 24.2 percent being free.

It is difficult not to compare the applications at the App Store with those which will be available from the competition. The competitor about which the most is known, the RIM Blackberry App World, recently announced its business model. Given the tiered system they are using, and the barriers they have placed to free apps (mainly a $200 “submission fee”), they are likely to have a much different mix of software. That is probably in keeping with the button-down image of the Blackberry line.

Somehow, the image of the Renaissance Man is more appealing to a lot of people than the image of the Brooks Brothers suit, with vest. It may truly be that variety is the spice of life, and that all work and no play makes anyone a dull person. It may be that some of the popularity if the iPhone and Touch is due to this variety. Why spend all your time on email when you could be using some of it to play a game, read a book, or find the closest sushi restaurant?

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Entry was posted on Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 3:22 pm under Free Apps, Games, iPhone, iPod Touch.  Print This Post

Read more entries by Michael W. Jones.
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