Ran across these stats when trying to add some spreadsheet logic to a gut feeling. Really, it's part of the debate we're having when looking at the next implbits project. Pop quiz, how many games are available on Apple's app store today?
This was the question I started with and here are some of the status I dug up:
- The number of games available on the app store has grown from around 5,200 in October in 2008 to over 72,000 in Sep 2011
- There are over 3,500 games submitted per MONTH to the app store
- Close to 60,000 of those 72,000 games available on the app store today are .99 or under (free)
- Around 8,000 games cost $1.99, 3,000 are $2.99, 1,200 are $4.99 and the remaining range from $3.99 to $449.00 (no, I couldn't find the one that was $449)
- Of the top 150 free download apps in August, 99 were games for a total of 41.8 million downloads that month
- The top publisher made about $4 million on paid downloads in August (all categories)
If you are intested in doing your own research I found the stats at
AppBiz and
Xyologic (not to be confused with the new Cold Play album). I guess the number that jumped out to me is the 3,500 new games added a month. What's the little app developer to do to get their game to stand out in the crowd? So many ideas, so little time. On a slightly differnent topic, several of the implbits team attended the Microsoft BUILD conference this year. There is no doubt one of the main themes was the coming windows app store. They made a point to call out that over 450 million Windows 7 licenses have now been sold, and that they are going to make people rich by selling apps to these customers. No, they weren't shy about this. For whatever Microsoft lacks in innovation, they do make up for in marketing (oh, and driving a partner community). Indeed, there are many oppotunities ahead for the app developer, big and small.