With low prices and only the top 100 apps selling in large numbers, is it financially viable for developers to keep pumping resources into the Apps store?

As everyone and their granny surely knows by now, the iPhone & iPod Touch App store has taken the industry by storm, and as Apple will happily tell you, it has ‘redefined the industry’. Recently passing 2 billion downloads, and 100 thousand apps available for download, the statistics are certainly impressive.

What’s also impressive, is the number of free apps (although their prevalence is in decline), and the lower prices of apps compared to other platforms. As Gizmodo reported in October, some Apps are over $100 cheaper on iPhone than on other platforms.

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What’s also worth noting, is how steep the top end of the sales Vs ranking graph is. The most popular apps sell far more units than less popular apps, once you look past the top 50, sales drop markedly, past the top 100 and sales are pretty meagre. 

But when you put all these together, it could indicate a fairly bleak future for the App store. If an app doesn’t make it into the top 50, it’s not going to sell all that well, which means slim profits for the developer. If the developer cut their prices compared to other platforms in an attempt to get it into the top 50, and still doesn’t make it, things could be pretty dire indeed.

While the internet has been abuzz with success stories of developers jumping on the App Store bandwagon and coming up trumps, it doesn’t talk much about the developers who put huge resources into developing apps, and don’t quite make it. With 100,000 apps, and only around 100, even just 50, of them selling in large numbers at any given time, how many developers aren’t making their money back on their investment?

With Google Android, and every other phone manufacturer bring out their own answer to the App Store, the next buzz on the internet could be stories of developers switching their interest to other platforms, and making more money from them. That really could burst Apple’s bubble.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the App store and it’s vast selection of Apps, and I hope this doesn’t happen like I’ve described. But, could it…?