Behind Your Business

A counter on Apple's Web site is quietly ticking off the number of apps downloaded from the App Store. Late Tuesday afternoon, the number was approaching 990 million. Watching the digital numbers spin along is mesmerizing, and if you sit quietly enough you can almost feel the breeze.

According to calculations by U.K. research firm Mobile Squared, at the current rate of downloads, the one billionth app will be sent over the Web sometime on Thursday.

"It took Apple almost six months to reach its first 500 million app downloads and the following 500 million downloads in just 94 days," said Nick Lane, Mobile Squared's chief researcher. "That equates to an improved average daily download figure of 2.98 million for the first 500 million to 5.32 million per day for the second 500 million downloads."

Inflated Significance?

The rapidity with which Apple has approached the one billion mark is receiving a great deal of media attention, but some question whether the significance is overblown. Lane, for instance, notes that worldwide the iPhone accounts for just 0.4 percent of the mobile market.

Moreover, a significant number of the apps that are being so rapidly downloaded -- as many as 75 percent -- are free, which means Apple is essentially underwriting their distribution. The amount spent by consumers on the remaining quarter of apps, however, has added handsomely to Apple's bottom line.

Greg Sterling, founding principal of Sterling Market Intelligence, agreed that Apple has puffed up the billion-download phenomenon, but said there is a real accomplishment underlying the milestone.

"Although the idea of apps predated Apple and the iPhone," Sterling said, "they've created essentially a new marketplace that others are emulating -- that's significant. And while Apple's handset market share may be small, its role in the mobile Internet is much bigger. The iPhone drives an enormous amount of...