Apple App Store vs. Nokia Ovi Store – A Quick And Dirty Comparison

by editor on Jun.27, 2009, under TechCrunch

When Nokia launched its Ovi Store for mobile applications a month ago, it was clear that – despite its less than stellar launch – it would be a mistake to simply dismiss the Finnish mobile juggernaut’s efforts as meaningless. The company may be struggling to stay relevant on the software and services side, but with a reach like Nokia’s on the handset distribution level I think it goes without saying that a lot of eyes are firmly fixed on Nokia’s initiatives in the field.

There was some criticism about the lack of content on the Ovi Store at launch day, particularly because of the fact that a lot of big names were lacking, but I figured I should give it at least a month to see if and how many developers would flock to the platform. Now, I think it’s time to take a look at where they stand after that month, and I thought I’d start by comparing the content offering to that of Apple’s App Store, the central application marketplace for iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

This is evidently not really a fair comparison, since Apple’s App Store has been around for almost a year now, while Nokia is still getting started. Still, it’s worth noting that a lot of the big names on the Internet – whether we’re talking about social networks, search companies or game developers – are still missing on the Ovi Store.

A quick and dirty comparison (note that my top lists for the App Store may differ from yours depending on your location, mine being Belgium, Europe):

Social networks

Ten popular apps in the App Store (free and paid mixed together):

- Facebook
- Skype
- TweetDeck
- Nimbuzz
- fring
- LinkedIn
- Truphone
- AIM
- Tweetie
- BeejiveIM

Ten popular apps in the Ovi Store (free and paid mixed together):

- Gravity (a Twitter client)
- Insy
- Friendster
- ThumbDive
- Hi5
- GyPSii
- IM+ For Skype
- See-Fi
- Twittix (another Twitter client)
- Facebook for Nokia

News and information

Ten popular apps in the App Store (free and paid mixed together):

- BBC World News Live
- NY Times
- AP Mobile
- France24
- Thomson Reuters News Pro
- CNN
- Wall Street Journal
- L.A. Times
- The Telegraph
- USA Today

Ten popular apps in the Ovi Store (free and paid mixed together):

- Daily Star
- Daily Express UK
- France24
- AP News
- Reuters
- The Straits Times (daily newspaper, popular in Singapore)
- The Star (Malaysian newspaper)
- The Guardian
- CNBC
- Breaking News

Music

Ten popular apps in the App Store (free and paid mixed together):

- Sirius XM
- Pandora Radio
- Shazam
- Y! Music
- imeem Mobile
- PocketGuitar
- AOL Radio
- Last.fm
- KCRW Radio
- Ocarina

Ten popular apps in the Ovi Store (free and paid mixed together):

- Mundu Radio
- NME
- MusAic
- Midomi
- Nokia Internet Radio
- Tunerific
- Bandfan
- MixPack
- Mozart Killer
- MyRMX

I could go on with a number of other categories, but I think you’ll agree the trend is clear: Nokia so far hasn’t attracted many familiar names on the Internet to develop and/or submit applications to the Ovi Store.

If the company wants to catch up and make its mobile marketplace a success, that needs to change.

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