Developer says iPad downloads are 5% of iPhone share on App Store
A developer with chart-topping free games for both the iPhone and iPad has shared download figures for each platform, revealing his iPad application was downloaded about 5 percent as much as a comparable game available for the much larger audience of the iPhone and iPod touch.
iPad vs. iPhone sales
Michael Buford of Headlight Software Inc. updated his personal blog on Friday to share download figures for two free applications from the company Knife Dancing for the iPhone and Heads Up: Hold'em HD for the iPad. Knife Dancing was the No. 1 free iPhone game in February, with about 165,000 downloads in a single day, while Heads Up became the No. 1 iPad game on Thursday, with 8,300 downloads in one day.
"So according to those numbers, for a free game the iPad app store is about 5% as big as the iPhone app store on the day before the 3G launch..." he said. "And unlike the iPhone, where the #1 game is usually the #1 app--on the iPad it only got us to #4."
While the experience of Headlight Software may not be indicative of all developers, it does provide some insight as to what kind of software is popular for the iPad, and how successful it can become after the hardware's first month of sales.
Both free applications include in-app sales, with Knife offering a $0.99 upgrade, and Hold'em featuring a pricer $4.99 upgrade. That higher price helped to push the iPad card game to more than 10 percent of the revenue obtained through the iPhone title.
"Interestingly Knife Dancing's income was enough to get into the Top Grossings lists; the highest I saw was #27..." he wrote. "Hold 'em I have not seen in the Top Grossing list on the iPad--I'm not surprised with all the more expensive tools and utilities."
Early adopters of the iPad have quickly embraced the App Store, despite the fact that many applications carry prices significantly higher than their bargain basement iPhone counterparts. Days after the iPad launched, Apple revealed that more than 3.5 million apps had been downloaded for the device.
One estimate earlier this month predicted that Apple is selling $372,000 worth of iPad applications every day. That forecast suggested Apple could hit $1 billion in annual sales within two years.
Analysis says iPad apps near 5,000
A new report from App Store analytical firm Distimo released this week revealed that the number of iPad applications has hit 4,870 since the device was released on April 3. That number is up 32.7 percent over the last two weeks.
Distimo also said the largest category of applications for the iPad is games, with 1,577 options encompassing 32 percent of the online marketplace. Entertainment titles amounted to 455, while books were 396 titles.
The study also found that the average price of an iPad application is $4.67, higher than the average of $3.82 for the iPhone. The most expensive categories are Medical, where the average app costs $42.11, and Finance, with an average of $18.48. Those run much higher than the same categories for the iPhone, where medical apps cost $10.74 and Finance runs an average of $5.74.
The results suggested that there is a higher ratio of paid applications for the iPad than there is for the iPhone, with 80 percent of software for Apple's large-screen device carrying a price tag, compared with 73 percent for the iPhone.
Just five days after the iPad launched, Apple revealed that there were more than 3,500 applications designed specifically for the iPad. Apple's iBooks application alone served up more than 600,000 ebooks in the first five days.
iPad vs. iPhone sales
Michael Buford of Headlight Software Inc. updated his personal blog on Friday to share download figures for two free applications from the company Knife Dancing for the iPhone and Heads Up: Hold'em HD for the iPad. Knife Dancing was the No. 1 free iPhone game in February, with about 165,000 downloads in a single day, while Heads Up became the No. 1 iPad game on Thursday, with 8,300 downloads in one day.
"So according to those numbers, for a free game the iPad app store is about 5% as big as the iPhone app store on the day before the 3G launch..." he said. "And unlike the iPhone, where the #1 game is usually the #1 app--on the iPad it only got us to #4."
While the experience of Headlight Software may not be indicative of all developers, it does provide some insight as to what kind of software is popular for the iPad, and how successful it can become after the hardware's first month of sales.
Both free applications include in-app sales, with Knife offering a $0.99 upgrade, and Hold'em featuring a pricer $4.99 upgrade. That higher price helped to push the iPad card game to more than 10 percent of the revenue obtained through the iPhone title.
"Interestingly Knife Dancing's income was enough to get into the Top Grossings lists; the highest I saw was #27..." he wrote. "Hold 'em I have not seen in the Top Grossing list on the iPad--I'm not surprised with all the more expensive tools and utilities."
Early adopters of the iPad have quickly embraced the App Store, despite the fact that many applications carry prices significantly higher than their bargain basement iPhone counterparts. Days after the iPad launched, Apple revealed that more than 3.5 million apps had been downloaded for the device.
One estimate earlier this month predicted that Apple is selling $372,000 worth of iPad applications every day. That forecast suggested Apple could hit $1 billion in annual sales within two years.
Analysis says iPad apps near 5,000
A new report from App Store analytical firm Distimo released this week revealed that the number of iPad applications has hit 4,870 since the device was released on April 3. That number is up 32.7 percent over the last two weeks.
Distimo also said the largest category of applications for the iPad is games, with 1,577 options encompassing 32 percent of the online marketplace. Entertainment titles amounted to 455, while books were 396 titles.
The study also found that the average price of an iPad application is $4.67, higher than the average of $3.82 for the iPhone. The most expensive categories are Medical, where the average app costs $42.11, and Finance, with an average of $18.48. Those run much higher than the same categories for the iPhone, where medical apps cost $10.74 and Finance runs an average of $5.74.
The results suggested that there is a higher ratio of paid applications for the iPad than there is for the iPhone, with 80 percent of software for Apple's large-screen device carrying a price tag, compared with 73 percent for the iPhone.
Just five days after the iPad launched, Apple revealed that there were more than 3,500 applications designed specifically for the iPad. Apple's iBooks application alone served up more than 600,000 ebooks in the first five days.
Comments
WeatherBug and Urbanspoon are done well, as is Zillow. Haven't found an innovative calculator.
Not sure if Apple publishes interface recommendations for publishers on the iPad, but Apple themselves have shifted from an odd-corners interface element approach to a top bar approach. It is a little tiring, as you always have to reach; especially if your iPad is in a dock. They also really need to have alternate keyboard styles available to users. A thumb keyboard on bottom corners arced around rational reach lines would go a long way for landscape use when holding the unit.
A few of the paid apps look promising, but I'm a little skeptical at the moment as prices have jumped up significantly. iWork sounds like a turd; will be interesting if CloudReader can take its place at all, being a source were you can synchronize documents to a server or desktop easily.
Perhaps one needs to look at the percentage of iPads to iPhones and touches to really understand this data.
So far, I'm a bit disappointed with most of the apps (all free) I have gotten. It is pretty clear that the developer didn't have a good idea of how users would interact with their programs without a sample unit. E*Trade is just miserable with its tiling view, Bloomberg didn't figure out how to adjust interface elements, NY Times lacks content, etc.
WeatherBug and Urbanspoon are done well, ............
Great post.
9% own a iPod Touch.
30% own a navigation device (TOMTOM, Garmin, etc)
12% own a digital SLR
5% own a flash camcorder
8% own a HDTV bigger than 50¨
Not hard to figure where the iPad lands in that pile if one takes price and necessity into consideration.
Should reflect upon App Store sales for the iPad over the long run.
Google for ¨Apple and Windows Computers Living Together Under One Roof" for the link to the data.
How can one use two different applications to be the basis of projections and comparisons between two different devices?
This just does not make sense. This is not the first time that alleged claims from other sources are simply regurgitated here.
It would have made more sense if the applications were the same, e.g., the major league baseball MLB App for the iPhone/iPod Touch vs. the iPad
But, even the same application for the two different platform sizes is simply anecdotal, for a number of reasons. To name a some of these reasons:
The application may be more suited for one device over the other. For example, a phone related application is likely to have greater sales in the iPhone vs. the iPad -- even if there are the same number of both devices. Can you guess why this might be the case?.
The cost may be another factor. For example, I doubt too many are buying the overpriced Apps for the much overhyped and very costly mass media applications that were released for the iPad compared to the free or very cheap versions for the iPhone. On the other hand, if the price were the same or free, e.g., Project Gutenburg eBooks, it is more likely that the download will be proportionately higher among iPad owners than iPhone owners because the iPad is better suited for reading.
There are possible other reasons, if one analyzes the data provided more thoroughly.
Finally, it is overreaching to make any conclusion from a single application (even if the same) or from a single company, considering that there are almost 5,000 Apps for the iPad already vs 185K and growing.
CGC
I'm glad to be an AAPL investor. I was seriously impressed.
I can't believe the author has not commented about the overreaching analysis and conclusion by the source of the data.
How can one use two different applications to be the basis of projections and comparisons between two different devices?
It's actually worse than that. The iPad is new so lots of people are downloading a lot of apps to try out. The iPhone/iPod Touch have been out for quite a while so the initial enthusiasm has worn off a bit. The results are skewed for that reason, too.
Just came from downtown San Francisco. There is a line wrapped around the block of Apple's flagship store. It didn't dawn on me until I reached the front door at 4:00 (it was closed) that it was all for the 3g iPad.
I expected that. Pre-release surveys indicated that the demand for the 3G model was roughly even with the WiFi model. They sold 300 K WiFi models in the first day and 500,000 in the first week. Barring supply problems, they should sell a similar number of 3G models - which will likely put the total at 1.5 to 2 million units in the first month (which ends on Monday). At an average of $600 each, that's roughly a billion dollars in revenue - or something like $200 M in net income at Apple's average returns. And that's in one month.
It's actually worse than that. The iPad is new so lots of people are downloading a lot of apps to try out. The iPhone/iPod Touch have been out for quite a while so the initial enthusiasm has worn off a bit. The results are skewed for that reason, toorR.
Apple Insider could provide more useful information to their readers if they take the time to analyze or consider the veracity of the articles they quote from other sources, instead of simply regurgitating them. I found this most problematic whenever the deal with "statistics". \t I do not expect Apple Insider writers to be experts in the field but they just foster the "misinformation" that the internet propagates by "infinite" repetition of incorrect information.
What is more disappointing, if not dangerous, is the tendency of a number of internet consumers to accept "repetition makes a fact". And then use such incorrect or unverified information as the foundation of their own views and further speculations.
CGC
It doesn't really matter what kind of games they are, whether you think they're good or bad: if the number of downloads to reach the #1 free game spot on the iPad takes 5% as many downloads as it takes on the iPhone, that's an interesting comparison of the relative sizes of the two markets. Even if there are only 2 data points
And that the iPad reached that point in under a month is impressive.
WeatherBug and Urbanspoon are done well, as is Zillow. Haven't found an innovative calculator.
I really think it's early yet for Apps that really take advantage of all the iPad has to offer.
There really ARE some nice apps out there, it's just extremely difficult to find them. Apple REALLY needs to build a robust search engine into the App Store!
NetFlix, NPR, GoodReader, Dictionary.com, Epicurious Recipes, IMDB, Marvel Comics, Astronomy Picture of the Day
Check out UpNext 3D Cities. VERY Cool!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/digit...364500115?mt=8
Digits Calculator is wonderful. It IS 99¢, if you can handle it.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/digit...364500115?mt=8
Relax people, in a couple of months, we'll have forgotten ALL about this!
Yet across the board, nearly all of the apps have been poorly designed and are obviously immature. This isn't a slam on developers. It just means that the platform is new.
The poster child for this point? The New York Times app. It is absolutely horrible; not the content, but the interaction.
Or perhaps the poster child should be the app store itself. The screen size of the iPad can provide much better browsing than is currently available. The current interface is just a left-over from the iPhone's screen size.
Despite being quick to point out these flaws, I am still ecstatic about the potential of the iPad. Given more time and experience with the finally useful touch-tablet paradigm, apps will certainly become better.
Isn't this good news? Considering iPads are only 1% of the total number of iphone,ipodtouch devices. 5% means that per device percentage wise those with iPads are buying more of the apps than those with iphone/ipod touch devices.
YES