Ten million iPhone App Store downloads in first weekend

 

Despite myriad problems with Apple's iTunes activation server, the iPhone 3G's opening weekend looks like a success--the computing giant announced more than a million devices sold within the first three days of release. iPhone and iPod users also downloaded more than 10 million applications from the fledgling App Store, which debuted Thursday.

According to Apple, there are now more than 800 native iPhone applications available via the App Store--just last week, when CEO Steve Jobs sat down for an interview with The New York Times, he said the App Store would feature roughly 500 applications at launch, including educational programs, mobile commerce and business productivity tools. Games represented about a third of the first-wave apps.

Jobs said about 25 percent of the first App Store downloads are available free of charge, with roughly 90 percent of the premium applications priced at $9.99 or less. Jobs insists Apple will not rely on the App Store as a source of significant revenue, in much the same way iTunes music sales have contributed little to the firm's bottom line: "We are not trying to be business partners," he said. The goal is to "sell more iPhones." Moreover, Jobs added that developers are right to be wary of possible competition from Apple-developed iPhone apps: "We will compete," he said. "That's a discussion to have."

For more on the App Store's debut weekend:
- read this release

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