From WIP Connector (great blog!)
Apple was in the news recently when it announced its Volume Purchase Program (VPP) for the iTunes App(lication) store. The VPP allows a company to buy apps from the iTunes App(lication) store in bulk quantities: a person within an organization enrolls in the program, goes to a special VPP version of the store, selects the apps they want and the quantity they’d like to purchase, pays via credit card or PayPal, then receives a spreadsheet of redemption codes they can distribute to employees in a number of different ways. Essentially, if a company finds a third-party app in the store they want to roll out across their iOS-carrying workforce, it’s easy for them to do so (Apple also offers a similar program for educational organizations). VPP also supports custom B2B apps, though these must carry a minimum price of $9.99.
Read more directly from Apple Volume Purchasing Guide (.PDF).
My Take:
Enterprises looking for a private app store have options now, and independent developers have to think carefully on the value proposition beyond mobile device management.
The interesting part is 30% share that developers have to share with Apple. Will HTML5 change that equation forcing a new distribution model into the enterprise? Will there be an anti-trust case given the near monopoly status that Apple has towards app distribution? [rant: Including sending cease and desist letters to any one who mentions AppStore outside of their context?]
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