Consumers looking for free apps are turning to the App Store on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad en masse, according to statistics published by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

Total free downloads for iDevices have now reportedly topped 4 billion globally, which represents 81 per cent of all downloads on the marketplace to date, Munster claimed, with daily App Store downloads now almost double that of iTunes – 16.6 million to 8.9 million.

Virtuous cycle

In terms of paid apps, Munster states the top 50 paid applications have an average selling price of $1.49, with developers taking home $1.04 of the revenue to Apple's $0.23.

As such, the data suggests the App Store has a gross margin of 44 per cent.

"We see a virtuous cycle of Apple's robust app ecosystem adding features and functionality to the iOS devices, which drives sales, which makes the ecosystem more robust, which encourages more developers to write apps, and the cycle repeats itself," Munster said, explaining the App Store's continued success.

Money maker

Indeed, Munster states Apple has a mutually beneficial relationship with developers, following Apple's claim that developers have picked up more than $1 billion since the App Store launched, counterbalanced by the $428 million in revenue Munster believes Apple has generated.

 

As a result, Munster states Apple has taken home $189 million in gross profit on paid apps alone.

"This does not factor in the roughly $81m Apple has spent since launch to deliver the 4b free apps that have been downloaded," he concluded.

Apple Insider