LG Electronics just announced that they are launching an app store. And it’s launching fast, as in now. The initial focus of the store will be on Asia, with a worldwide roll-out to follow at the end of this year. The store is called LG Application Store and is now already available in Australia and Singapore.
Content
The store contains 1,400 applications, of which 103 free. That’s over 90% paid content, following the trend of Nokia Ovi Store. At this moment, only Windows Mobile applications are supported, and the store is available for two LG handsets, with more to follow. The store divides all applications in the familiar categories.
Downloading applications
To download applications, you first need to register an LG account. At this moment, the store is only accessible via a PC. Users download applications to their desktop and need to use Windows ActiveSync to get it on their phone. This can be quite a hassle for consumers. Many Windows Mobile users might be familiar with ActiveSync, but it would be a lot easier to get download applications directly over the air to the phone, without the need for a PC. Especially with a focus on Asia, where the PC penetration is very low and many people use their phone as primary internet device, this can certainly become a problem.
Billing
Billing is done via credit card. The supported cards at this moment are Visa, Mastercard and Amex.
Revenue share
Developers receive 80% revenue share.
LG is now the 6th major phone manufacturer launching an application store, following the steps of Apple, Research In Motion, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. It is the third largest mobile phone manufacturer worldwide and has a global market share of 10%. Developers that want to get their application in the store, you can register with LG.
We will keep track of the LG Application Store and post more details soon. We added the application store to our app store overview.
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