2012: End of the World for iPhone Marketshare?

Could Apple’s iPhone be destined for 3rd place in smartphone marketshare by 2012, trailing Nokia/Symbian’s 39% and Google Android’s 14.5% with a paltry 13.7%? That’s what some analysts at Gartner are telling ComputerWorld, with Nokia already in the global lead, and Google’s wallet, cloud-services, rapid iteration of the OS, and variety of form-factors and UIs from multiple manufacturers. Rounding out the other players are Windows Mobile with 12.8%, RIM BlackBerry with 12.5%, various Linux mobiles with a collective 5.4%, and Palm webOS with 2.1%.

iPhone, projected at 71.5 million unites sold, doesn’t have Nokia’s existing footprint or Google’s services, but here’s the thing: a) it has Apple’s still-unmatched 360 degrees of ecosystem integration, b) will likely continue to improve at the same rate it has since the original iPhone 2G running 1.x with no apps or services in 2007, and c) will remain wildly profitable, and that profit share will remain more important to Apple than raw marketshare.

TiPb has discussed this before, of course. Back in August we heard that while the iPhone currently only has 8% of the market, it gets 32% of the revenue. Further back in January, we heard Apple was making double the profits of Nokia.

So, okay, if the Mayans are wrong and we’re all still here in 2012, maybe Apple will only be making 30% margin on a 13.7% share. But that might still be killer compared to very little on a 39% share.

Just compare Apple’s current financial results to the rest of the industry for an indication of how that works…

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

2012: End of the World for iPhone Marketshare?

iPhones Devs Sanity-Check Analyst App-ocalypse

Developers Bjango posted an interesting — and informed — reply today to Newsweek’s sensationalist scoop on the iPhone App Store goldrush, and how the “rushies” might not be finding them much gold any more.

Could it be, the era of the fart-app fortune is… over?

Um, yeah. Anyone (other than the few who first staked their claims) banking — literally — on an everlasting gold rush to make their app fortune, rather than a clear, calculated business plan, is playing the lottery. And we all know the odds of winning those. So what’s the alternative model for the iTunes App Store? The same as it is anywhere, and with anything, else — focused effort and luck, with those who have better focus and more effort finding themselves luckier on average.

Countering Newsweek’s assertion that it takes six months, full time, and costs between $20K and $150K to make an iPhone app, Bjango and indie developers who shared their own stats averaged only a few months, a couple developers, and a mix of full and part time work. Moreover they point out that good ideas are a dime a dozen, and that people passionate about their projects, realistic about their potential, and smart about controlling the bottom line, may just fare better. The best advice, however, is at the end:

There is a mid-point between overnight hit and disastrous failure. However, if money is your primary motivator, then you’ve probably already lost the battle.

Users — the people who buy the apps — don’t care a hoot about some pseudo-devs get-rich-quick crApps. They care about great apps, and developers who make great apps probably want great apps themselves, not lottery tickets. If a great developer gets hugely successful along the way, everyone benefits.

[Thanks Melwan for the tip!]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhones Devs Sanity-Check Analyst App-ocalypse

Microsoft Porting Zune Software to Other Platforms — Maybe iPhone?

ZDnet is reporting that Microsoft has plans to port their Zune software over to other platforms… and that means rumors of Zune on iPhone.

“Zune is a music and video service from Microsoft. Period, Our next step is mobile phones, but we haven’t talked about a timeline for when that will happen.”

Just more proof that Microsoft is treating the Zune platform as software rather than hardware. Now, we don’t know about any of you, but we are highly doubtful you will ever see Zune content on any iPod or iPhone. But for all of you who are Mac owners and Zune faithful, this may be a good sign of things to come as sometime in the near future you may be able to sync your Zune with your Mac.

Then again how many of you actually own a Zune?

[Via ZDnet]

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Microsoft Porting Zune Software to Other Platforms — Maybe iPhone?

Get your mix on with Star6

Filed under: iPhone, App Review, Music

Star6 [iTunes link], from Agile Partners, is a beat-mixing iPhone app with a lot of power behind its kitschy interface. While I see it being a fun toy for the casual user, there are some possibilities for great things, if you have the dedication to get good with it. I won't award it a heap of points for aesthetics, but the interface is highly usable and well thought-out.

You get six pads to which you can assign sounds, either from the array of included kits or from your own wav or aiff samples. Once you've got your kit loaded up, you can trigger the sounds in Grain mode, which makes it more of a sound effects machine, or in Sync mode, which will beat-match the samples to keep the rhythm flowing. While you're playing each sample, you can modify attributes like pitch, gate, speed, jitter and "size" by holding down each respective button and raising or lowering the iPhone. There were times in my trial of Star6 that I just wanted sliders, but the accelerometer-based manipulation has a definite right-brain appeal. Additionally, you can turn effects like delay, filter and distortion on and off whilst grooving away.

Star6 is running a contest right now, with two grand prizes of $500 each. You can see some of the entries by going to the YouTube Group, and join the group to submit your own. Details are available at the Agile Partners page for the contest. I'm a little late on the jump here, but the deadline has been extended to October 25th, 2009. It can't hurt to try, right?

Star6 is available in the App Store for $6.99US. Check out the gallery below for a few shots of the interface. If it looks interesting, though, definitely head over to the introductory video and samples (play before you buy) at the Star6 website.

Gallery: Star6 First Look

Get your mix on with Star6 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Get your mix on with Star6 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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doubleTwist Integrates Amazon MP3 Store

doubleTwist, the iTunes-replacement created by DVD Jon for music syncing to a multitude of devices, including the iPhone, has just built in integration for the Amazon MP3 Store.

This was the big announcement heralded by the 1984 commercial spoof, according to TechCrunch, and 5 million songs are currently available… to some.

Unlike iTunes, doubleTwist with Amazon MP3 support is Mac and US-only right now (not that Amazon MP3 is widely available anyway — what gives Amazon? You’ve been promising more for a long, long time now?!) with a PC version coming soon. US Mac users, especially those who have many different devices, with non-Apple devices in the mix, may want to take a serious look at (we know Palm should!) And let’s face it — iTunes needs the competition!

If you’re a doubleTwist user, let us know what you think of this new version.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

doubleTwist Integrates Amazon MP3 Store

TomTom’s iPhone car kit gets taken for a stationary test drive

It's been a long trip filled with hopes and confusion, but TomTom's iPhone car kit is now finally nearing an actual release (minus the bundled navigation app), and a few lucky folks are beginning to get their hands on it. While they unfortunately didn't get to take it for an actual test drive, the folks at Recombu did get to spend a bit of time with the device and deliver a few initial impressions, noting that the kit feels solid and easily accommodates your iPhone without too much effort. Interestingly, the site also says that TomTom told it that the kit will also work with "any sat-nav iPhone app," and that TomTom's own navigation app (which has apparently already sold 80,000 copies) will be getting free updates. Head on past the break for a brief (and we mean brief) video.

Continue reading TomTom's iPhone car kit gets taken for a stationary test drive

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS

TomTom's iPhone car kit gets taken for a stationary test drive originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.