It’s a headline that will certainly inspire more than just a few double-takes. But the reports are, indeed, true. There are, at this very moment, more books available in Apple’s App Store than there are games. It’s a significant shift of content momentum that has taken place in a surprisingly rapid fashion.
This reality represents the first time the game category has taken a back seat to any other. According to a report from Mobclix, an ad exchange provider for iPhone apps, the App Store currently offers approximately 26,5000 books. All told, that represents approximately 19% percent of the total apps available in the App Store (142,0000 in all). On the other hand, Only 25,000 games are now available, a figure representing roughly 18% of the App Store’s total offerings.
The explosion of ebooks and the growing popularity of mobile news platforms add up to music to the ears of a multitude of mobile marketers chomping at the bit to capitalize on the booming business of e-readers and devices like Apple’s forthcoming iPad.
But as Mobclix is quit to reiterate, the App Store “has been ever-evolving since it’s conception.”
As both developers and iPhone owners discover new uses for apps for work, fun, and daily life we expect to see even more changes in the future.
