A Tsunami of Smart Phone Apps

As reported in today's WSJ, wireless companies are in hot pursuit of Apple, which has experienced great success and a near monopolistic position with its 'App Store,' which it launched in July 2008. At various stages of development are: RIM's 'StoreFront,' Microsoft's 'Windows Mobile Store,' Google's 'Android Market' and Palm's 'Software Store.'

It is becoming increasingly clear that wireless companies are beginning to compete on the extent to which one is able to customize one's phone, rather than on the 'captive' software platform that comes with the phone. Apple's recent ads focus more on the applications that you can access through iPhone, rather than the iPhone itself. Further, Motorola last year abandoned a range of software platforms to focus its infrastructure design on Google's Android platform and on Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform. The author makes the point that "fewer platforms means bigger potential audiences, making it easier for developers to build a business around writing mobile software."

However, if you thought this would indicate rising profits from mobile apps, it's certainly not coming from the pricing end. The average price of all smartphone programs has, in fact, dropped from $6 to $3. It remains to be seen whether application software developers will need to turn to advertising to bolster the revenues the currently obtain from charging users.

So far, the clear winners from this trend towards open source software are consumers, who are buying smart phones in droves. Consumers will be able to do even more through their mobile phones in the days to come, including watching broadcast television. The integration of the cellphone, media player and personal computer continues apace.

See here for the full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123447734006679419.html

W.Denton