How Apple and Google Marketplaces are Killing Innovation, and How Blockchain can Solve It

The global market in recent years has witnessed a tremendous increase in the number of mobile application downloads. According to the comScore report, the mobile app revenue reached $58 billion in 2016 from $45 billion in 2015. The same report predicts that app revenue will hit a new peak of $77 billion by the end of 2017.

The figures evidently point to the emergence of a new whole industry, the one that belongs to application developers. They study the market, understand its need, determine the solution, and codify it in the form of a user-interactive mobile application.

There are still some challenges, however, related to app distribution. In terms of app marketplaces, developers have only a couple of choices. The app industry today is dominated by the two corporate giants: Apple and Google. They are the ones which decide how apps are built, promoted, or even held. They even hold the power to reject an entire class of apps without providing any concrete reason. More, app developers pay as much as 30% of their total revenue to these marketplaces.

It is true that the app revenue statistics are bullish, but one cannot ignore that they could have been higher if developers were allowed to be innovative. The solution to this issue lies in a complete revamp.

Blockchain for App Distribution?

Blockchain, for a very long time, has been proposed as a go-to solution for app distribution process. Like financial transactions, blockchain could replace centralized app distribution marketplaces with distributed systems with no middlemen whatsoever.

“Blockchain is definitely a way to overcome the prevailing challenges of app distribution,” explains David Shabun, a renowned data architect. “Developers should have every right to create and distribute their apps, and they must not be submitted into paying hefty revenues to third parties. Blockchain eliminates hefty fees and restrictions to create an enjoyable experience for developers.”

Shabun, who has also founded Spheris, a blockchain-based decentralized app distribution platform, believes that blockchain will soon become a norm. Customers will choose decentralized experience while purchasing and leasing apps because the app rates will be lower in absence of commission-hungry centralized marketplaces.

“Open source blockchain Dapps will drive the economy of the future and we see Spheris as an integral part of this vision,” Shabun added.

Spheris will not retain the control over the platform, preserving its ideological stand against centralized business models. The startup, therefore, is opening a fundraiser campaign which will invite anyone who wants to contribute to their platform’s development.

For more information, have a look at https://spheris.io.The public is welcomed to join Spheris team for a chat in Telegram or keep track of their project via Twitter.