Apple App Store Awash In Third-Party Submissions

Apple Inc.'s NASDAQ: AAPL) App Store is awash in product submissions from third-party developers. The company last month received nearly 1,800 product submissions for the sales platform each day, according to the Website Pocket Gamer Biz. http://www.pocketgamer.biz/metrics/app-store/submissions/ Apple said earlier this year its App Store billings rose 50 percent in 2014 and apps generated over $10 billion in revenue for developers last year. http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2015/01/08App-Store-Rings-in-2015-with-New-Records.html Apple retains commissions from each sale, said to average around 30 percent, although it doesn't break out revenue related to third-party sales on its App Store. The Web site CNET reported the 30 percent commission in 2012, calling it "not a headline. It's more of a line item on a table that includes some much bigger numbers." http://www.cnet.com/news/apples-app-store-an-economy-for-1-percent-of-developers/ The site currently has about 1.7 million apps available for download, with digital games by far the largest category. The average daily submissions to Apple's App Store broke 1,000 in 2012. The Web site Statista.com, which commented recently on Pocket Game's data, said a rate of more than 1,000 daily submissions suggests that "developers aren't running out of ideas of how to make our devices even smarter." http://www.statista.com/chart/3530/app-store-growth/ Online distribution platforms for apps have also been made available by Microsoft Corporation

, Google Inc

and other companies. Apple sued Amazon.com, Inc.

in 2011, claiming an exclusive right to the term "app store," but dropped the suit two years later. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/09/us-apple-amazon-appstore-lawsuit-idUSBRE9680TT20130709