FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Information:
Gary Munitz
(02) 9240 8131 / 0410 616 499
gary@menulog.com
THE BUSINESS OF MOBILE APPS
Hype or Real?
SYDNEY, 11 November, 2009—The iPhone has a cool app store but a relatively small share of the phone
market. So why is every phone manufacturer working around the clock playing catch up to develop their
own app store?
The answer is simple.
Businesses want to communicate with their customers via their mobile. However, since this is still an
emerging market, a large investment of time and money is needed to participate. With the iPhone the
only option, two things are happening: Some businesses are saying ‘Lets wait, as investing now will only
give us limited access to our customers’ whilst others are pressing ahead and telling their entire
customer base ‘Check out our new iPhone app’ which in turn sends another message to people holding
a Nokia, blackberry, Sony Ericson etc -- ‘Go buy the iPhone’
Now the race is on. The more manufacturers launch an app store, the more likely businesses are to jump
on board. This in turn changes the stakes again and will have competing businesses race for mobile
market share.
Technology companies by default are at the forefront of this race. Menulog.com.au gives its customers
the ability to order home delivery from 900+ restaurants Australia wide and was first to market with
both an iPhone app and a Google Android app. Gary Munitz, General Manager of Menulog.com.au said
“The iPhone is king of the castle right now but many manufacturers are launching phones running
Android. This will change the landscape.”
The next piece of the puzzle is to understand what’s involved with developing an app. The truth is that
the technology is new. There are only a few companies that are able to develop apps and fewer still that
are any good at it. To compound the issue, each manufacturer has their own set of standards so you
need to duplicate your efforts if you want to feature across the board. Mr Munitz said “Developing an
app is not easy but is doable and as the market grows it is likely to get easier. Most importantly, you
need to ensure that you build what your customers want and keep it very simple.”
The logical follow up question is: Does it work? Are companies benefiting from developing these apps?
“It is very early days but we are seeing encouraging signs of growth from both the iPhone and Android
apps,” said Munitz. “Nokia with close to 40% market share had a disastrous launch of their app store but
I am confident that they, and other key players, will contribute to the growth of the mobile app space.”
About Menulog
Menulog (www.menulog.com.au) is Australia’s largest and most comprehensive food ordering site, letting customers order
delivery or pickup from over 900 restaurants throughout Australia.. Menulog offers consumer reviews, ratings, photos and critic
reviews, as well as a dining out guide. Visitors to Menulog can easily view the most popular, and top-rated venues delivering to
them, as well as access great discounts and specials including exclusive, members-only specials.
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