Competition For the App Store Is Mounting

MojoKid writes "Right now the only real 'competition' to Apple's App Store is the Android Market. Presently, anyone using an Android-based phone can download applications from the Android Market, which first started offering free applications in October '08. A drawback to Android application developers, however, is the fact that the potential Android Market user base is fairly small right now, as there is presently only one Android phone available, the T-Mobile G1. However, in the coming months we're also going to see more app stores come online for additional smartphone platforms. Nokia will officially launch an app store for its Symbian OS-based smartphones at Mobile World Congress on Monday. Microsoft is also getting in the game for smartphones that run the Windows Mobile OS, with Steve Ballmer delivering the keynote speech at Mobile World Congress as well."

Comments

App Store anti-Competitive

[DallasMay]

I can't believe no one else is talking about this. The iPhone App Store is anti-competitive. You can only sell iPhone Apps through it alone. That's bad for developers and bad for consumers. Apple has already abused it's monopoly position by not allowing certain apps that compete with their offerings. This is dramatically different than their Music store/ipod model because you can buy music from anywhere so long as it is DRM-Free. This is not the case with the App Store. Buy from Apple or not at all.