Despite struggling to maintain its once-pristine public image following the death of Steve Jobs, Apple is still the industry leader when it comes to must-have personal technology and overall customer loyalty. On Monday, Apple announced that its users had downloaded over 40 billion applications from the App Store between 2008 and 2012. Over 20 billion of those downloads occurred in 2012 alone. With the proliferation of iPhones and iPads, in particular, Apple users have shown an insatiable hunger (or App-etite) for the apps from the App Store.
Whether the apps are free and popular or paid and well-reviewed, Apple users continue to download applications at an increasing pace. One of the least discussed components of Apple’s stranglehold on the app market is the fact that so many parents use their various "iDevices" to entertain (and sometimes educate) their young children. As a result, a family with two or more toddlers or preschoolers could be downloading dozens of apps over a given month. At least a few of those are likely to be "paid" apps, often for no more than $1.99 for the installation.
And while Steve Jobs surely never envisioned millions of children as his de facto sales force, that is exactly what has evolved. There is nothing on the planet more likely to sell a parent on a $1.99 impulse App Store purchase than a 5-year-old kid who will promise to play quietly on an iPad while Mommy gets some work done. Some will point to that as poor parenting, which may be the case. But it's the American reality and the kids are helping to drive app purchases ever higher.
