At the end of its first month on sale, the number of apps for the iPad is growing fast, just be prepared to pay a premium for them.
App store analytics company Distimo (who yesterday pitched in our PayPal X Startup Rally) has just published its latest report on the USA Apple App Store which reveals that there are now more than 4870 iPad apps in the store. The average cost of an iPhone app in the USA is currently $3.82, while for iPad apps it’s $4.67 – we clock that at a 22% premium for iPad apps. What’s more, while 27% of iPhone apps are free, only 20% of iPad apps cost nothing.
Meanwhile, the growth in the number of iPad apps is accelerating. In the past two weeks the number of iPad-specific apps is up 29.5% to 3437, while ‘Universal’ apps, designed to work both the iPhone’s small screen and iPad’s 9.7″ mammoth display, now stand at 1433, up 41% on two weeks ago. It’s interesting to see that developers are preferring to create apps that are iPad-only over universal ones with a much larger market of potential buyers.
What are all these apps though? Well, Distimo’s figures show them to be mainly games. 1577 iPad games are out there. The second most popular category is ‘Entertainment’ with just 455 apps listed. It’s clear developers see the device as a gaming goldmine. Another potentially lucrative area is medical apps. While tech-savvy doctors only have 91 apps to choose from, they’re far and away the most expensive, costing $42.11.
These early figures show just how keen developers are to support the iPad. What we’d like to know is if the cost of iPad app development mirrors that 22% price premium, or is there a ‘novelty’ factor in iPad apps right now that allows developers to charge more? Feel free to share your stories with us, developers…
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