App Stores Face Competition From Mobile Sites

Over 350,000 apps are available on Apple's app store for iPhone and iPod Touch. Around 65,000 apps are available for the iPad tablet device. Google's Android is closing in on Apple's mobile market figures, as the Android market presents a lucrative option outside of Apple's walled garden. The Android market may surpass Apple's in 2012 (if things keep going the way they are) in terms of number of apps in distribution.

There are issues with apps, certainly. For example, the Apple App store does not easily allow users to browse their deep archive of apps--it becomes more of a recommendation engine, where the focus is more on latest apps and popularity (along with some algorithmic features that push recommendations). Often category browsing can be an annoyance for users with more specific or particular tastes. The Apple app store needs to allow users to have the ability to dive deeper and with more control into the app store archives, in the way that Google transformed the internet by offering such a service via simple text search.

HTML5 mobile websites will also provide stiff competition for the app market in the not too distant future. Mobile websites provide much of the same functionality as locally stored applications, but the power of HTML5 may enable the evolution of new and mutated business models that could be highly appetizing for businesses seeking alternatives outside of the Appleverse.