Even with the strong growth experienced by the smartphone industry, PC Magazine commentator John Dvorak asserts that there will be no "gravy train" to be had in the production and sale of smartphone apps.

Dvorak’s argument centers on the idea that most users of smartphones – like most users of PCs – do not have any pressing need for a large amount of software that cannot be obtained for free. "Once free websites begin to optimize themselves for smartphones (perhaps with a special URL), a lot of the apps will end up becoming buttons on a screen that merely load up the free app from a website," Dvorak writes.

The PC Magazine pundit concedes, however, that "money will be made in the app scene. Somehow. Everyone loads up on apps. As soon as I got my Nexus One, I put 30-plus apps on the thing." But Dvorak says that very few of those apps needed to be bought.

Smartphone apps have garnered their share of headlines lately, as Nokia aggressively moved into the market for mapping software with this week’s launch of a new GPS mobile device tracking system for Ovi Maps.

This entry was posted by Mobility Management News Desk on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Managing Mobile Devices News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

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