Of course, this is not news! But with some 10,000 new Apps released over the last 2 months, it is easier and easier to do all the things that most of used to use a PC to do, from the iPhone. In many cases its easier and faster and can be done while we commute, for example – previously “wasted” time.
Emphasizing this are Apps like the free Xbox Achievement Guide – which provide a service for the product of a competing game platforms (and there are many more Apps like this one).
The arrival of these types of Apps makes it clear that Apple is aiming to provide a comprehensive alternative to the PC and to fuel the m-commerce revolution.
Because, for much of the world, PCs are still not an option. By contrast, mobile phones are already widely used throughout Asia. For example, a recent report revealed that:
Statistics show that the number of cell phone users in Beijing reached 16.162 million at the end of 2008, and the handset possession rate was 95.4 units per hundred people, 2.5 units fewer than the previous year.
When and if iPhones take off in Asia, the App store is ready to make it easy to choose an iPhone over a PC. However, so far the iPhone has not done well in India (absence of a 3G network had really slowed adoption there) – which is a potentially huge market. And has not yet been made available in China.
In the meantime, viva la Apps!