Can you make $90,000 in one day and who do you think cares about Apple new 64 bit A7 processor? Why do small businesses love iOS devices so much, how might the Apple computer of the future look like and what were the best Apps and media releases in 2013? Read more to find out in today's Apple Daily Digest. 

How to make $90,000 is one day

“The top 200 applications in the iOS App Store are believed to post
combined gross revenues of $18 million on a typical day”

— Analytics firm, Distimo via AppleInsider

Lets get one thing clear, this is not one of the how to get rich quick schemes. According to an Analytics firm, Distimo (via AppleInsider), the top 200 Apps in the iOS App store make $18 million on an average daily. That is around $90,000 a day per App! The same rough number from Android is 33% lower at around $12 million a day. These are interesting numbers, considering the Android v/s iOS market share statistics (around 81% v/s 13% respectively, globally, IDC). While pundits have predicted that the lower per device revenue for developers on Android will be compensated by the huge install base (that is apparently growing bigger everyday), it has not yet happened and clearly Android is lagging behind iOS is both App revenue and web usage [CNET]. This also goes to show how deceptive market share numbers are when treated in isolation [TechPinions].

Revenue: iOS v/s Android (Source - BusinessInsider)

Who cares about Apple's new 64 bit A7 chip?

“The 64-bit Apple chip hit us in the gut...Not just us, but everyone,
really. We were slack-jawed, and stunned, and unprepared. It’s not that
big a performance difference right now, since most current software
won’t benefit. But in Spinal Tap terms it’s like, 32 more, and now
everyone wants it.”

— Qualcomm Insider via HubSpot

Apparently everyone. This was coming for a long time, right after a senior Qualcomm executive bad mouthing Apple's A7 chip calling it a "marketing gimmick". Qualcomm later refuted its executive's statement and called his statements inaccurate [CNET]. He was even removed from their leadership page and was "reassigned". While down playing competitor's advantages is common and not frowned upon, looks like this strategy crossed a line and that was the moral of that story.

“How did Apple catch its competitors so flat-footed? Apparently most
people in the mobile industry figured 64-bit was not a big deal right
now, since most smartphones can’t really take advantage of it.”

— HubSpot

Anyway this new report via HubSpot quotes a Qualcomm employee's real reaction to Apple's game changing 64 bit A7 processor. Every Apple competitor is apparently scrambling to get their own 64 bit chip ready. And this is not the first time Apple has caught its competitors napping. Remember the Touch ID (finger print sensor) that Apple introduced earlier this year in iPhone 5S? Now every Android smartphone manufacturer is trying to emulate Apple in integrating a finger print sensor and so far none have succeeded (The Verge on HTC One's finger print sensor). 

Apple's new 64 bit A7 chip (Source - Apple.com)

The ability to forsee the future is the most valuable but also the most undervalued strength that Apple as a company, possesses. This was something that Steve Jobs was a master at and he has infused it deep in Apple's roots. A movie can only be as good as its critics. If the critics of a movie are stupid and do not know what they are talking about, they are of course going rate that movie badly. But does that mean that the movie is really bad? No. Similarly Apple is building itself an astoundingly solid platform that no one in the industry has witnessed so far and hence are not able to appreciate the Apple's strenuous groundwork. Innovation is not just introducing the iPhone and the iPad, but much more than that and only time will prove it.

Small businesses love iOS devices

“Apple has a 76 percent share of the mobile device market among small
to medium businesses (SMBs)... Samsung took second place with 12
percent.”

— Intermedia

Intermedia reports some latest Small Business (SMBs) mobile share data and Apple is currently is ruling that space with more than three fourths the market share. Samsung comes at a distant second at just more than one tenth the share! This goes to show that though Apple's iOS devices are generally more expensive than competing Android smartphones, are generally also more stable and secure and trustworthy. Hence the standard choice for SMBs. But more and more SMBs have also started allowing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy as it is less tougher for them to manage different smartphone OSs as they have a smaller number of employees. Big businesses on the other hand might take a longer time and a more complex workflow for this transition. 

SMBs and iOS devices (Source - Intermedia)

Other numbers that are interesting are that spike in SMB device activations is more correlated with vendors' new releases that with major shopping holidays, meaning people buy iOS devices as soon as Apple releases the new versions and not wait for holidays to come around. Apple of course releases the new versions of its iOS devices mostly around major shopping holidays in US. Also not surprisingly, SMBs generally prefer iPhone 5S over 5C, understandably owing to its better security features, stronger performance and also because it is the most recently updated hardware (meaning, iPhone 5S can survive longer before having to be replaced). 

An Apple computer with no accessories, just a projected display?

While Apple (or any other company's) patents don't necessarily mean much in terms of what products consumers will eventually be able to purchase and use, they are extremely interesting and shed some light on Apple's R&D as well. A recent Apple patent [AppleInsider] talks about a new computer setup that has no keyboard or mouse or even a monitor and uses only a projected display (on any surface). It also explains that this invention falls into a new category of computing devices called the "desk free" computers, that fall somewhere in between Laptops and Desktops. The patent application also mentions the lack of any charging wires and using inductive charging instead. This is indeed taking it to the next level in terms of using a camera (is this why Apple bought PrimeSense?) and sensors to control the computer. Interesting times ahead!

“Unlike static projection setups, the desk-free computer is able to
dynamically change its image settings based on sensor data, like that
from an on-board camera. Other sensors include an accelerometer,
ambient light sensor and depth sensor. Together, these components
collect data regarding a display surface’s color, texture and other
features to dynamically produce an optimized image. ”

— AppleInsider

Apple's patent on a "desk free" computer (Source - USPTO)

The best of 2013 from the iTunes and App stores

Apple released a list of top Apps, songs, movies, podcasts, etc. for the year 2013. While Disney Animated won the best App for 2013, Badland won the game of the year. Breaking Bad was the best TV show and Gravity, the best movie of the year, Justin Timberlake topped the artists list for 2013. For a full list follow the direct link on iTunes. 

Best of 2013 from Apple (Source - iTunes)