News

Apple's business model

The iPhone 3G may have been the least surprising news story of the year, but what’s got the biz talking is Apple’s move into content retailing.

Loads of developers have been telling ME how much they like Apple’s business model. The Californian firm says content providers can choose price points between free and £9.99 (and receive a 70 per cents rev share.

At the launch of iPhone 3G in May, Sega, Digital Legends and Loopt were among those to show what they have done with the iPhone SDK.

Now, analysts predict the store could become a $1.2 billion business by 2009. Investment bank Piper Jaffray said the store could add up to three per cent to Apple’s operating income by the end of 2009. It assumes users will buy at least two apps a year.

Apple’s new 3G iPhone will roll out in 22 countries on July 11^th, with 48 more countries to follow before year-end.