Majority of Apple apps are duds
The majority of apps in Apple's App Store are flops, new figures show.
Analytics firm Adeven has labelled 65 percent of nearly 900,000 Apple apps as "zombies" that people rarely download, according to research seen by the BBC.
"We can't say exactly how many downloads they (the zombies) have - Apple doesn't reveal this - but it is very small," Adeven said. A total of 579,001 apps out of the 888,856 that Adeven tracks in Apple's U.S. store fit the walking dead category.
Apple has reported that users download nearly 90 percent of all its apps at least once a month. CEO Tim Cook recently said that users have downloaded a staggering 50 billion apps since the 2008 launch of the App Store, which is celebrating its fifth birthday. The company claims to have paid $10 billion to app developers, an amount that it notes is triple what any rival has paid.
Many app vendors, including electronic games publishers, give away apps for free and count on revenue from "in-app sales" and merchandising.
As they take their wares to a marketplace full of duds, they would be wise to ponder the Brechtian question: "Suppose they gave an app and nobody came?"
Image from Telegraph.co.uk.
More app wraps on SmartPlanet:
- We'll download 165 billion apps in 2017. Is that good?
- Mobile app market worth $27 billion
- This app messes with Mother Nature
- More consumers paying for online news
- Apps that simplify your life in space
- Sex doesn’t cell
- The rise and $23 billion fall of text messaging
- Apps will be freer than ever but generate 5 times more revenue - $63B - by 2017
- Phone bill shock: Beware the app
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com