LAS VEGAS – It may not have the benefit of an incredibly well executed and colossal ad campaign like Apple Inc.’s App Store, but GetJar continues to ride a wave of momentum. The application storefront, which is geared toward the massive installed base of feature phones, announced a partnership with Rogers in Canada today on the heels of a significant and similar deal with Sprint Nextel Corp. last month.
With more than 67,000 apps on hand now and compatibility with more than 2,000 handhelds, GetJar is all systems go as it continues to build what VP of marketing, Patrick Mork, called the “Wal-Mart of app stores for developers.”
The company has served more than 850 million downloads total in 240 countries since launching. More than 70% of apps are downloaded exclusively via mobile, Mork told RCR Wireless News. As a whole, the top 100 apps account for about 60% of the total downloads at any given time and hundreds of new applications are being added to the storefront every week.
After seeing carriers struggle for years with the off-deck vs. on-deck conundrum, there’s clearly been a shift away from holding onto everything possible in house. And that explains why GetJar is picking up traction with carriers, device manufacturers and major retailers. Carriers have realized that managing content is not in their DNA nor have they been very good at it, Mork said. Part of the shift is simply due to necessity and part is a growing realization on the carriers’ part that they have core competencies and could be better off building partnerships.
GetJar also recently commissioned a study by Chetan Sherma that concluded the application market is poised to reach a $17.5 billion market by 2012 and that app downloads are expected to jump from 7 billion in 2009 to 50 billion in 2010.
Matt Kapko can be reached at mkapko@ardenmedia.com
@CTIA: GetJar nabs Rogers deal as app frenzy continues
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