ITunes Trends: Popularity of application types and consumer purchasing habits - ITUNES TRENDS
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ITUNES TRENDS
iTunes Trends:
Popularity of application types and consumer
purchasing habits.
By Webbmedia Group Staff
Webbmedia Knowledge Base: iTunes Trends
© 2010 Webbmedia Group, LLC | http://www.webbmediagroup.com | Updated Feb. 1, 2010Executive Summary
Webbmedia Group surveyed trends in the iTunes store during the past 12 months to
dermine the popularity of application types, the popularity of applications and consumer
purchasing habits. Webbmedia Group used publicly available data, as well as data
available at the iTunes store: top ten lists and popularity over time, user comments and
recommendations, application iterations (when a developer releases additional
iterations, they are typcially in response to a growing user base).
Webbmedia Group then evaluated the current iPhone SDK 3.2 functionality as well as
the functionality of 3.0 and 3.1 to determine which features are most-often used inside
high-demand applications. In addition, Webbmedia Group researched the likely features
and form factor of the upcoming iPhone 4.0 SDK and iPhone 4.0 model.
The results below can be used by editors, publishers, PR and others in communications
to develop new mobile projects and to adjust current products.
Webbmedia Knowledge Base: iTunes Trends
© 2010 Webbmedia Group, LLC | http://www.webbmediagroup.com | Updated Feb. 1, 2010iTunes Store Trends
Webbmedia surveyed a number of attributes when compiling iTunes Store trends.
These include: application type (game, utility, entertainment), content type (news, etc.),
connectivity (social networks), pricing models, and consumer download habits. We
determined the following trends, based on that research.
Application Availabiliy, Ranked by Category
Ranked by the largest number of applications available.
• Books
• Games
• Entertainment
• Education
• Travel
• Utilities
• Lifestyle
• Sports
• Music
• Reference
• News
• Navigation
• Productivity
• Business
• Healthcare/ Fitness
• Photography
• Social Networksing
• Finance
• Medical
• Weather
Most Popular Paid Application Types
By number of downloads and time spent on iTunes Store top ten lists.
• Games
• Entertainment
• Photography/ Video (apps for taking photos, manipulating photos, sharing photos)
Most Popular Free Application Types
By number of downloads and time spent on iTunes Store top ten lists.
• Games
• Entertainment
• Utility (Flashlight, WiFi finders, text messaging services)
Webbmedia Knowledge Base: iTunes Trends
© 2010 Webbmedia Group, LLC | http://www.webbmediagroup.com | Updated Feb. 1, 2010Trends in Business vs. Consumer Applications
Business applications make up approx. 70% of the iTunes store.
• Medical (reference, guides, books, electronic medical records)
• Education
• Business
• Business utility (especially mobile/ micro payments)
Consumer applications make up approx. 30% of the iTunes store.
• Games
• Entertainment
• Photography/ Video
Most Popular Content Types (paid and free)
• Sports (news, scores, athletes)
• News (breaking news, weather, entertainment news, sports news, Presidential news)
• Celebrity/ TV Show/ Music (content from or about celebrities, popular TV shows,
popular singers)
Most Popular Connectivity Types (paid and free)
• Facebook and Facebook-related applications
• Twitter-related applications
• Contact-sharing applications (LinkedIn, Bump)
Pricing Trends
Most of the paid applications still fall within a range of $0.99 and $2.99. Of those paid
applications:
On average, a price cut after launch increased demand by 130%, regardless of whether
those applications carried advertising. On average, a price increase dropped demand to
25% post launch.
Paid applications retain their users longer than free applications, and paid applications
tend to see more regular use over time.
Webbmedia Knowledge Base: iTunes Trends
© 2010 Webbmedia Group, LLC | http://www.webbmediagroup.com | Updated Feb. 1, 2010iPhone SDK Features Trends
Webbmedia Group evaluated the features available in the iPhone SDK 3.0 - 3.2 to
dermine which features that the most popular applications shared in common.
Most Popular Features:
This list purposely does not include WiFi, touch screen or cellular capabilities.
• GPS (location-aware)
• Gravimetry/ Accelerometer
• Camera (photos, video, posting photos and videos)
• Search
• Cut, copy, paste
Examples of uses:
GPS/ Location
• Finding local restaurants (Yelp, Urbanspoon)
• Directions and local listings (Google)
• Geotagging photos
Gravimetry/ Accelerometer
• iWalk (pedometer)
• Nike running application
• iBeer (simulates drinking a mug of beer)
• Instapaper (scrolling through articles and books)
• Labyrinth (game)
• iFishing (game)
Camera (photos, video, posting photos and videos)
• Qik (live streaming video)
• Night camera
• Camera Zoom
• Photo Makeover (virtual makeover)
• MakeUp (virtual makeover)
• Barcode (scans traditional barcodes, two-dimensional barcodes)
• RedLaser (scans traditional barcodes)
Search
• Uses OS to search through all content on phone
Cut, copy, paste
• Used in a variety of applications
Webbmedia Knowledge Base: iTunes Trends
© 2010 Webbmedia Group, LLC | http://www.webbmediagroup.com | Updated Feb. 1, 2010iPhone 4.0 SDK Projections
Webbmedia Group anticipates the announcement of an iPhone 4.0 SDK sometime
between mid-April and mid-June. We believe that a new iPhone 4.0 model will be
available this summer and will incorporate the features listed below. Many of these
features should likely be available as an iPad upgrade.
• Multi-touch features available throughout the entire OS
• Applications that are able to run in the background without draining battery life
• Event-based modes: the device would adapt to different locations and reconfigure
its settings automatically
• RFID scanner
• Different, customizable home screen options
Webbmedia Knowledge Base: iTunes Trends
© 2010 Webbmedia Group, LLC | http://www.webbmediagroup.com | Updated Feb. 1, 2010About Webbmedia Group
Webbmedia Group is an international digital strategy consultancy that offers mobile,
platform, social and emerging tech/ media strategic services and workshops to Fortune
500 companies, media organizations, mid-sized businesses, governments and
universities worldwide.
Webbmedia Group provides insider access and tech insights to our client base. Our
detailed analysis, tech trend reports and quarterly tech wrap-ups help our clients learn
about new industries and gain better expertise in those they already know.
For more information or to inquire about our services, please see http://
www.webbmediagroup.com or call our office: (267) 342-4300.
Webbmedia Knowledge Base: iTunes Trends
© 2010 Webbmedia Group, LLC | http://www.webbmediagroup.com | Updated Feb. 1, 2010You can also read
