Fragmentation

Today's post is not so much about finance as it is about revenue generation. Many people ask why there is a clear divide between app stores, and is there really a difference. There are differences which is the fragmentation, not in the devices per se (which I'll get to a little later). The difference in app stores is more of a brand issue than a device issue. Apple has only 1 product (granted there are 3 actual devices - iPhone, iPod, iPad but they all run on the same base operating system). How is this different than Android? The difference is the operating system, as Android devices have the same base operating system (only divided by upgrades and updates - Windows 3.1 is broadly not the same system as Windows 95 or Windows 7). The profit structure has its differences under Google's Android and Apple's iOS but money can be made (or not made if you're creating the app for free use). The devices are merely a means to fill market segments by location, cost, functionality, capabilities to list a few.

So what is the moral of this story? Remember in grade school when we all had to learn about least common multiples and the like. Well, it comes into play here when trying to understand exactly why sometimes there really isn't a fragmented market, just companies segmenting the market to make that additional dollar in a "free" or "competitive" market.