Quimondo

How long can you be number one?

In looking at the applications that have reached the coveted position of being top in their category on the iPhone AppStore, there appears to be three major groupings.  The main bulk of these applications  seem to have reigned supreme between 1 and 16 days.  There is another set that have managed to make it to upwards of 30 days at the top. Lastly, there are a handful of apps that have real legs - basically owning their category for half or even all the days in the data collected.

Congratulations to those that have made it to the top.  The big question is now is what can one do to retain the position with this much competition?

Applications continue to disappear from iTunes

Apple has once again limited the number of applications that are shown when one browses the category sections of iTunes.  Where Apple had initially capped this number at 3500 in February, they have now reduced the number to 2500.   That means in one fell swoop, 7000 applications are no longer visible in the top 7 high volume categories like Games, Entertainment, Lifestyle, and Utilities.

One has to wonder how a new application is discovered by a customer, as many applications never get shown in the 'What's new' section when they are initially launched on the AppStore.

Many developers are turning to external marketing using YouTube videos, Facebook applications and adverstising buys to let people know about their apps. It would be helpful if Apple did not impose this arbitrary barrier to discovery.