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Mobile App Platform Survey: Is it all about the iPhone?

ThinkMobile – April 8, 2010

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Associated Press

AP is the Essential Global News Network247 Bureaus in 97 countries

4,000+ Journalists, Photographers, and Employees49 Pulitzers (30 for Photography)

Cover all Subject AreasEntertainment, Sports, Politics, Lifestyle, Business …

All Media TypesText, Photos and Videos

Core PrincipalsFast, Trustworthy, Comprehensive

Half of the world’s population sees news

from the AP on any given day…

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Getting Started: 5 Things to decide

• What is your mobile product strategy?

• What is the business model?

• Who is going to build your mobile product(s)?

• How will you support it?

• How will you distribute/market your mobile product(s)?

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Type of App - Questions to ask

• Free or paid

• Customer support levels

• Touch, non-touch or both

• Requires a network connection to operate or update

• Ads

• Offline functionality (local storage)

• Linking out with app in background

• Marketing

• Distribution (US or global?)

• App or Widget?

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Feature Phones are Still Important

36%

Smartphone

Feature Phones

64%

Source: Millennial Media (Oct. 2009)

U.S. Share of ImpressionsBy Phone Type

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U.S. Market Share

Share of Smartphone Market

RIM42%

Microsoft24%

Apple20%

Palm8%

Symbian3%

Android3%

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Who is your audience and what OS will best reach them?

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Store Size

0.7

1.5

5

6

161

30 (Mar)

Windows

Palm

Blackberry

Nokia

Android

Apple

Source: Distimo (Feb. 2010)

501

734

13,865

3,005

Windows

Palm

Blackberry

Nokia

Android

Apple

Total Number of AppsJanuary 2010(000’)

New Applications per MonthDecember 2009 - January 2010#

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Prices in Stores

$8.26$6.99

$3.62 $3.47 $3.27$2.53

Blackberry Windows Apple Nokia Android Palm

U.S. App Stores

Average Price

Source: Distimo (Feb. 2010)

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App Store Behavior

(Distimo Feb. 2010)

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Why Does the iPhone Win Out (today)?

Apple App Store Standard Form Factor & Features

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Apple iTunes vs. Blackberry App World

Apple iTunes

Pre-loaded

Easy to navigate

Seamless incorporation of apps with the device

Lives in device content management location (iTunes)

BlackBerry App World

Has to be downloaded to device

Hard to navigate

Downloads executable potentially installed in a couple of places

Only lives on the device

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Blackberry Form Factor & Features

10 different model sets

DifferencesScreen size

Input methodProcessor

ConnectivityMobile Networks

…

Bold Storm

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Blackberry Form Factor & Features

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Blackberry Form Factor & Features

10 different model sets

Logistical Nightmare

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…but is the iPhone the Place to Start?

There are over 160,000 apps in the marketplace.

App prices are dropping to basement levels.

How do you make yourself discoverable in this space?

What marketing budget would that take?

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Fighting for attention

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Usage

• A recent study by Pinch Media found that only about 20% of iPhone users return to a free app after downloading it. A month later, the percentage was only 5%. The drop-off for paid apps was even steeper.

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What did we do?

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AP Mobile: Complete News Solution

AP Mobile launched in July, 2008. Today it stands as the most complete mobile news solution on 14 platforms (18 by year end), providing coverage to every web-enabled device in over 40 countries.

AP Mobile Snapshot 2010

• 1,200 contributing local news partners in U.S., providing unparalleled local customization and access

• 50 news categories from Entertainment to Sports to Politics, with 20% of traffic in local category

• Over 3,500,000 application downloads since launch

• Over 400,000 videos and 1.8 million photos viewed per month

• Support in multiple languages and growing

Platforms and carriers:

• Applications across platforms: iPhone (iPad), BlackBerry, Palm Pre, Nokia, Windows Mobile, Android, Maemo, Mobile Web App (apnews.com), Canadian Press (French and English), U.S. Spanish

• Carrier relationships both domestic and international: Telefónica, Orange, America Móvil, AT&T, Verizon, Virgin Mobile, US Cellular

• Future Platforms: Mobile Internet Devices, Netbooks, and the like

AP Mobile Snapshot 2010

• 1,200 contributing local news partners in U.S., providing unparalleled local customization and access

• 50 news categories from Entertainment to Sports to Politics, with 20% of traffic in local category

• Over 3,500,000 application downloads since launch

• Over 400,000 videos and 1.8 million photos viewed per month

• Support in multiple languages and growing

Platforms and carriers:

• Applications across platforms: iPhone (iPad), BlackBerry, Palm Pre, Nokia, Windows Mobile, Android, Maemo, Mobile Web App (apnews.com), Canadian Press (French and English), U.S. Spanish

• Carrier relationships both domestic and international: Telefónica, Orange, America Móvil, AT&T, Verizon, Virgin Mobile, US Cellular

• Future Platforms: Mobile Internet Devices, Netbooks, and the like

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What type of Phone do you Focus on?

By Mid-2011

150MM U.S. Subs

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The Landscape is Always Changing…

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Windows Phone 7

A standard application store.

Few form factors with hardware minimums.

…and convergence via MS’s Silverlight.

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Windows Phone 7 - Convergence

Silverlight

Phones Video Games

Tablets PC

Connected TVs

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Development

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What we look for in a developer

• Best of breed

• Platform specialists

• Recommended by OEM

• Flexible

• Deep ties into OEM support channels

• Small team, fewer hands on code

• Don’t tell me you can build for any platform

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Development Process

Concept Requirements Mockups

UI/UX design

Iterative Development

Select DeveloperTesting

Alpha/BetaCandidate

User Feedback DesignModifications

FeatureEnhancements

Launch

Testing

Design

Development

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Pitfalls

• Trying to do too much

• Too much reliance on or outgrow a vendor - what if they go out of business or lose key employees. Do you have sufficient controls to move the code to a new vendor?

• Vendor lock via sdk or platform

• Working with too many vendors

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• Think about what platforms and distribution outlets serve your interest and what resources you have to achieve those goals

• Apple still makes up a small piece of the pie. Explore a multi-platform approach.

• Think cross-platform (Flash, Silverlight, QT)

• They want a big cut. Their risk is distributed and limited, yours isn’t

• You need a long term view of the world

• Think globally (Nokia? Samsung?)

Is it all about the iPhone?