Apple pays N380.2bn to app developers

Apple said it has paid out till date in excess of US$ 2.5 billion, about N380.2 billion, to developers of applications on use globally, reports GSMA business brief made available to ITRealms Online.

Apple also said it now has over 15 billion applications downloaded from its Application Store by estimated 200 million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users worldwide.

A statement from the company said that its store now offers more than 425,000 apps, including an “incredible array” of more than 100,000 native iPad titles.

Also, the stated indicated that Apple has paid out more than US$2.5 billion to its developers to date. The company reached its 10 billion download milestone in January 2011, two-and-a-half years after launching the store.

Interestingly, while it took nearly two years to build to the 5 billion download mark in June 2010, it took seven months to achieve the next five billion, and six months to achieve the five billion after that.

According to various analyst reports, in terms of catalogue, Android Market will overtake the Apple App Store in August 2011.

However, it has also been noted that Apple’s App Store market share by download has started to stabilise, following the entry of new competitors into the market, aided by the growth of the iPad customer base – users who are often heavy app consumers. Apple also benefits from having a healthy installed app user base.

In a statement, Philip Schiller, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Product Marketing, said that: “In just three years, the revolutionary App Store has grown to become the most exciting and successful software marketplace the world has ever seen.”

In a related development, Bharti divided its consumer and business units to expand portfolio.

The report stated that Indian mobile giant, Bharti Airtel, undertake a broad restructuring resulting in dividing of its business into two separate verticals targeting consumer and business customers, respectively.

According to a Times of India report, the restructuring covers both its Indian and Southeast Asia operations and will come into force on 1 August.

The mobile, telemedia, digital TV and other new businesses facing the consumer will form the business-2-consumers (B2C) unit, while the business-2-business (B2B) vertical will continue to focus on serving large corporates and carriers. In an emailed statement to the newspaper, the operator suggested that some job losses could occur as a result:

“We expect the natural attrition to take care of job redundancies that emerge as a result of this; we will try and manage the others through our ecosystem of group companies and partners,” said the operator.

The report notes that the restructuring comes at a time when Bharti is looking to reverse five straight quarters of declining profit, weighed down by costs relating to its recent expansion into Africa. “If they implement these changes it will be great, but this matrix structure has not worked very well for many companies,” said an (unnamed) analyst at a Mumbai-based brokerage firm.

“The thought is really to bring down costs and make the company consumer facing.” The newly-formed B2C unit will be headed by K Srinivas, while Drew Kelton will lead the B2B unit. Both will report to Sanjay Kapoor, Bharti’s CEO of India & South Asia.

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