Apple iPad Will Need All the Apps Help It Can Get
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The iPad has no chance to match the iPhone in sales. Realizing that, Apple needs to be more diligent with its handling of the App Store approval process. Applications are a key selling point for both consumers and enterprise customers. If there are handy apps available to them, they might opt for Apple's device over others. And since Apple's iPad won't sell as well as the iPhone on its own merit alone, the company needs to add value to device to make customers more likely to pick one up. What better way to achieve that than with apps?
6. Competition is fierce
Lest Apple forget, the competition in the tablet market is extremely fierce. For now, there isn't much for consumers to choose from. But once the iPad hits store shelves, it will be followed by a slew of devices from both big and small vendors. That grouping will be led by HP's Slate tablet, which will run Windows 7. That alone gives it a leg up over the iPad, since any Windows program can run on the device. Apple needs to remember that the competition is out for blood in the tablet market. It also needs to keep in mind that all its competitors are targeting
7. Apps are a selling point
Applications are a key selling point for Apple. Whenever Steve Jobs takes the stage to discuss the iPhone or, now, the iPad, he's quick to point out just how many applications are available in his company's mobile marketplace. Jobs knows that consumers care about the quantity of applications available to them. Sure, they can get tens of thousands of apps in Google's Android Market, but they can get over 140,000 in Apple's store. And they like that. The more apps available to the iPad, the better. Apple can't lose sight of that.
8. Google won't hold back
If Apple plans to reject an inordinate number of apps in its store for little or no good reason, it needs to remember that Google will probably allow the apps in its Android Market. Recently, Tim Bray joined Google's Android team. In his first discussion on joining Google and taking on Apple, he mentioned that he wants to work toward showing the world that Apple's policies in the mobile market are all wrong. He wants to support the free flow of content. If he succeeds, Apple might have a problem. All those developers that it has turned away could run to Google's open arms. If consumers find that content compelling, it could cause them to choose an Android-based tablet over the iPad. That's the last thing Apple needs.
9. The consumer is tops
Apple needs to be reminded time and again that the customer is always right. It seems that Jobs enjoys maintaining a stranglehold on his company's products and expects the market to adapt. But maybe when it comes to the App Store, that idea is all wrong. Consumers might want the content that Apple has removed from the App Store. They might even like some of the apps the company has rejected. Going forward, Apple needs to make a more concerted effort to base its App Store decisions on consumer desire, rather than strange corporate rules.
10. It's what the market expects
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Apple needs to remember that the market expects it to be more lenient in its approval process for iPad apps. It knows that the company has rejected a ridiculous number of applications in its store. It also realizes that the iPad is a different product with different app needs. Consumers and enterprise customers are expecting something more from Apple than secrecy and poorly made decisions on app approvals.
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