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McDonald's (MCD) isn't the only company tapping into the "billions" game. In a bit of chest-thumping while Google (GOOG) announced its new cell phone, Apple (AAPL) let the world know that iPhone and iPod Touch users have pulled down 3 billion applications from the company's App Store since its launch a year and a half ago.
Steve Jobs, the company CEO, said, "This is like nothing we've ever seen before." He didn't reveal how many of these apps were free -- and whether billions and billions of downloads translate to billions and billions of dollars.
According to Forrester analyst Charles Golvin, U.S. adoption of smartphones is on the rise, which benefits both Google and Apple, not to mention Research in Motion (RIMM) and others. Penetration was only 11% in 2008 but rose to 17% last year, Golvin reports. This is a positive development, since aggressive growth continues without being impeded by increasing maturity.
The BlackBerry device still dominates the market, according to Golvin. "Despite Apple getting all the attention," he says, "even in a market segment that grew by more than half, RIM maintained its two-to-one advantage over the iPhone."
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