A few things on the iPhone that I’ve picked up in the last week or so
Apparently, Apple shifted 1.9 million of the devices in the second quarter of 2009, a growth rate of 1,041% compared to 2008. Compare this to Nokia who, although sold 14 million devices didn’t experience any growth.
This certainly makes it clear where we are headed with devices. Bearing in mind Apple is reported to have sold over 173 million iPods since 2001 it might not be long before the whole world has an iPhone.
In regard to iPhone apps, a company called swebapps has launched an online app builder, and with a price of around US$200 you could launch an app for your brand with minimal cost and a minimal amount of time.
On the face of it the service seems pretty interesting and may well suit small businesses. The reality is it’s quite restricted and you certainly won’t be hitting the high ranks in the app store. You could as the site suggests put your restaurant menus on for customers to download and store, but from a customer’s perspective I’m not sure this really adds value to a restaurant. Still, at $200 it’s a very cost effective way of establishing a presence in the iPhone apps market.