Thousands of sellers created the 40,000 apps that have appeared in the U.S. iTunes app store. We analyze seller behavior using several metrics.

1. U.S. iTunes App Store: Sellers
April 26, 2009
Ben Lorica
O’Reilly Research
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2. Data Description
U.S.
 iTunes App Store
 Data from 7/27/2008 - present
 Source: iTunes

3. Data Description - Definition of Seller
 Seller Data from iTunes App Store
Seller

4. Unique Apps
 36K unique apps appeared over most recent week
- Paid (78%), Free (22%)

5. Unique Apps Per Seller
 Number of Apps per Seller has been steadily
increasing
- 3.42 apps per seller during most recent week

6. Distribution of Unique Apps Per Seller
- 52% of sellers have 1 app
- 80% of sellers have 3 or fewer apps
- 91% of sellers have 6 or fewer apps
- 95% of sellers have 9 or fewer apps

7. Unique Apps in each Category
 Fastest-growing category is Books
(An app can be in
multiple categories)

8. Unique Apps Per Seller - By Category
 Relatively easy to launch a new Book App

9. Unique PAID Apps Per Seller - By Category
 PAID Apps - Most Recent Week
iTunes Share of Unique Apps per Seller
Category Paid Apps
Source:
O’Reilly Research

10. Unique FREE Apps Per Seller - By Category
 FREE Apps - Most Recent Week
Apps per Seller
iTunes Share of Unique
Category Free Apps
Source:
O’Reilly Research

11. Age of Apps - App Freshness
 An app’s Launch date is the day it first appears on
iTunes
 The Age of an App is the number of days since the
Launch date.
 We compare the Age of Apps across the three
largest categories: Books, Entertainment, Games

12. Age of Apps - All Apps in the Category
ALL APPS: The typical Game app is 3 months old
(92 days). 25% of Game apps are 43 days old or
younger.
BOOKS
ENTERTAINMENT
GAMES
Source:
O’Reilly Research AGE IN DAYS

13. Age of Apps - Limited to each Seller’s NEWEST App
NEWEST APPS: The typical “New” Game app is 2
months old (63 days). 25% of “New” Game apps are
25 days old or younger.
BOOKS
ENTERTAINMENT
GAMES
Source:
O’Reilly Research AGE IN DAYS

14. Top PAID Apps

15. Sellers and Top-Selling PAID Apps
 Do a few sellers account for most of the top-selling
apps?
 6.3% of all sellers (or 1 in 16) have had at least one
app appear on the TOP PAID APPS list
 Refer to apps that have appeared on the TOP PAID
APPS list as Hits, and the sellers who produced
them as Hitmakers.

16. Apps That Appear on the Top 100 Paid Apps List
 Average of 1.1 apps per seller, over last 4 weeks

17. Top Sellers & Top Paid Apps List
 Hitmakers with most number of Hits (5 or more).
Sellers who have
appeared on TOP PAID
APPS list
- Top 23 in terms of
number of apps on
TOP PAID APPS list
- They account for
16% of all apps that
have appeared on
TOP PAID APPS list

18. Top Sellers & Top Paid Apps List
80% of Hitmakers are “One-Hit Wonders”
Sellers who have
appeared on TOP PAID
APPS list
- 80% of such sellers
have had only 1 app on
the TOP PAID APPS list
- 95% of such sellers
have had 3 or fewer
apps on the TOP PAID
APPS list

19. Top Sellers & Top Paid Apps List
75% of Hits appear on the TOP PAID APPS LIST
on 34 (different) days or fewer.
On average, a Hit appears on the list on 13
different days.

20. Games

21. Unique Apps in each Game Category
 1 in 4 Game apps is a Puzzle

22. Unique Apps Per Seller - Game Categories

23. Games - Top Paid Apps
 “Games” category has its own TOP PAID APPS list
Apps that have appeared
on the
TOP PAID GAME APPS
list.
All Game 449
Categories

24. Top Sellers & Top Paid Games Apps List
 Hitmakers with most number of Hits (5 or more).
- Top 27 (out of 449
sellers) in terms of
number of apps on
TOP PAID GAME APPS
list
- They account for 28%
of all apps that have
appeared on TOP PAID
GAME APPS list

25. Top Sellers & Top Paid Games Apps List
72% of Hitmakers are “One-Hit Wonders”
Sellers who have appeared
on TOP PAID GAME APPS
list
- 72% of such sellers have
had only 1 app on the
TOP PAID GAME APPS
list
- 95% of such sellers have
had 5 or fewer apps on
the TOP PAID GAME
APPS list

26. Top Sellers & Top Paid Apps List
75% of Hits appear on the TOP PAID GAME
APPS LIST on 43 (different) days or fewer.
On average, a Hit appears on the list on 16
different days.
TOP PAID APPS LIST
TOP PAID GAME APPS LIST
Source:
O’Reilly Research DAYS ON LIST

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