First announcement of MNO entering the App store area: Vodafone

As mentioned on one of my last posts the war on the ownership of the Mobile Apps store space between handset manufacturers/OEM and MNOs has just started. Today Vodafone has launched its PR campaign (I called PR because there is not even a real decent web site for the communication between developers and Vodafone and it seems it won't be until the summer) and I am sure Telefonica, Etisalat and so far so on will not take much longer

What I found fairly interesting is that MNOs are ready to share a large percentage of the benefit to the developers (70% has been announced as the developers percentage, still far from the 92% from DoCoMo) while on the premium channel MNOs insists on taking at least 50% or more of the net margin (In fact an MNO I was discussing with a mobile advertising agreements wanted 70-80% of the total revenues for them!! Just insane on my humble but interested opinion

Vodafone to launch competing mobile app store

Another day, another app store appears

Vodafone has around 289 million customers around the world, so it makes sense to sell directly to them. Which is exactly what Vodafone is planning with its proposed app store.

Yes, another app store, but this time from a mobile network rather than a phone manufacturer, which means it's going to be open to all, no matter what handset you use. Although you'll still be limited to apps available for your specific operating system.

Once you're in, choose your app and download to your handset, the charge will be added onto your next mobile bill, with the money made split between Vodafone and the people behind the apps, the majority (70 per cent) heading the way of the developer.

It could be lucrative business. Market leader Apple has shifted a billion apps since its own app store launched and analysts have estimated that the market could top $25 billion in the next five years. Just a fraction of that will put a spring in the steps of Vodafone's shareholders.

In readiness for the new store, which is planned to launch initially in the UK later this year, Vodafone has released an application programming interface (API) to link up applications to its network. If you fancy making a few quid from your developing skills, get on it now.