Times always seem to be difficult and confusing for operators.

Some of them really do want to be more than dumb pipes, but even the dumb pipes business is hard enough during the 4G upgrade period, let alone having to worry about device porfolios and content curation.

And that seems to be the reason US carrier Verizon has decided to get out of the app store business.

Shutting the doors

Vodafone UK also recently shut down its Android-based app store, claiming there was little consumer demand.

Verizon is taking a similar approach, pointing out that stores such as Google Play, Amazon Appstore for Android and BlackBerry App World mean it's just duplicating content.

Hence Verizon will be removing its consumer-focused Verizon Apps store from all its Android and BlackBerry devices from January 2013. This includes from live devices. It expects to have completed the process by the end of March.

The store for enterprise customers will continue to operate, however.

Die and evolve

"Verizon Apps launched in March 2010 - the beginning of what would be an app popularity surge," the company states on its developer blog.

"There's now a whole new tech landscape in which both consumers and developers can interact like never before. We're evolving our strategy to further simplify today's experience and meet the needs of tomorrow."

Part of this strategy will see Verizon partner with AppLuvr, a social network-based discovery channel for Android apps and games.

[source: Verizon]