The average iPad app in the Apple App Store costs $4.67 vs. $3.87 for the average iPhone app, according to new research from apps watcher Distimo.
That should add up to a lot of iPad app revenue given that Apple says it has sold more than 1 million iPads since they became available a month ago and that users have downloaded more than 12 million apps. Apple says there are 200,000-plus apps in its App Store, most created before the iPad arrived but most of which also will run on the iPad.
The number of iPad apps is exploding, up about 33% over the past two weeks alone, according to Distimo.
Distimo, based in the Netherlands, says that 80% of the 4,870 iPad apps in the Apple App Store are paid, rather than free programs (Apple says more than 5,000 iPad apps have been built). That compares to 73% for the iPhone.
About one third of iPad apps are games, with entertainment and book apps also proving popular, according to Distimo.
Also read: Out-of-this-world iPad 3G has 5 antennas
The priciest iPad apps are those for medical and financial applications, costing an average of $42.11 and $18.48, respectively. That’s way higher than comparable iPhone medical and financial apps, which sell for an average of $10.74 and $5.74, respectively.
Early reviews of iPad apps have highlighted both the most useful and most useless. Overall, iPad reviews themselves have been positive, though wish lists keep growing, with some hoping for improvements in file management and true multitasking.
Still, there's no slowdown in sight for the iPad, with the new 3G model going on sale this weekend and already racking up 300,000 sales, according to a Piper Jaffray analyst.
One sign that the iPad has really made it already is that malware has already started to pop up in an attempt to scam users.
What's more, the iPad's early successes have thrown the overall tablet market into a tizzy, with Microsoft confirming the shelving of its planned Courier tablet and rumors swirling around what HP will do with the Slate tablet now that it is buying Palm and gaining access to WebOS.
It looks like the only thing that might slow down Apple's iPad and iPhone app successes is if the Federal Trade Commission or Department of Justice steps in to curtail the company's approach to allowing or disallowing certain types of apps (i.e., those using Flash).
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