Apple Apps Decline

Apple's real gold mine isn't App Store transaction fees, but the fact that the best apps come out on its platform, and that people choose iPhone, Mac, and iPad because of those apps.

But that edge is shaking. It's not that software on other platforms has suddenly gotten much better — it's that third-party software for iPhone, Mac, and iPad is increasingly converging toward the average. The point is that developers, whether for artistic or financial reasons, have less incentive than before to build sophisticated native apps exclusively for Apple's platforms.