Less than a week ago, I picked up my Gen 1 iPod Touch, powered it on, and sighed in a manner that was composed of both disgust and failure. As dozens of app icons appeared on my screen, I thought about how much money I have spent on programs that I initially used with frenzied passion, but quickly forgot about. Apparently, I'm not alone.
GigaOM reports that Admob, a mobile advertising start up, has calculated the money spent on iPhone apps, and it comes out to $200 million a month or a staggering $2.4 billion per year. To put that in perspective, Admob estimates that the Android Marketplace rakes in $5 million per month, or $60 million per year. That's certainly nothing to sneeze at, but far less than what Apple collects in a month's time. An interesting factoid: iPod touch owners are twice as likely to download an app than an Android or iPhone users. It looks like I've become what my high school counselor warned me not to become: a statistic.
There are plenty of other numbers to see if you follow through to GigaOM, but the question must be asked: do you use the majority of your apps on a regular basis, or do they go to waste much like mine?
