The iPhone Economy!
Call it the iPhone economy.
Apple's soon-to-open online App Store has triggered a scramble among software developers to write business plans aimed at making money off Apple's iPhone, a mini-computer that doubles as a phone.
"I'm seeing an excitement among mobile developers that I've never seen before," said Sam Altman, chief executive and co-founder of Mountain View-based Loopt, a location-based social networking service. "People who said they'd never start a mobile (applications) company because they didn't want to rely on the carriers are now starting companies focused only on the iPhone."
Apple recently provided the tools engineers need to create applications for its popular mobile device. The Cupertino company said some 250,000 iPhone software development kits have been downloaded. The App Store Web site, where applications will be sold or given away, is expected to launch soon, perhaps July 11 when the faster next-generation iPhone goes on sale.
Apple could be creating a billion-dollar industry built around the iPhone, said Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. In a recent note to investors, Munster wrote that the App Store could create a $1 billion-plus iPhone ecosystem by the end of 2009.
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June 16th, 2008 / 0 Comments / Trackback
