Phone
“The Orange App Shop will give millions of customers simple, direct access and improved search and browsing to over 5,000 applications, games, ringtones and wallpapers,” the company said in an e-mailed statement. Orange will work with software developers and content providers to “rapidly” expand the offering throughout next year.
Phone companies including France Telecom SA, Deutsche Telekom AG and Vodafone Group Plc are trying to increase sales from non-voice offerings and tie clients to their networks as traditional call revenue stagnates or slows in many markets. Oranges new application store follows the success of Apples online iPhone App Store.
Created in July 2008, the App Store has more than 100,000 applications, and users have downloaded more than 2 billion of the programs.
Mobile-phone operators increasingly want to sell new applications themselves rather than providing wireless networks for other companies to sell such offerings.
The new strategy comes as an increasing number of people use so-called smart phones to surf the Internet. Such devices provide personal computer-like functionality and typically have touch screens.
Store Details
Any application in the Orange shop can be downloaded and purchased on one single Orange mobile-phone bill, so customers do not need to pre-register and use their personal credit cards, Christophe Francois, Oranges vice president for Mobile Multimedia Products and Services, said in a phone interview.
Oranges application store will be available this month, initially providing products to more than one million customers in France and the U.K.
In 2010, Orange will then expand the service to Spain, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Slovakia, Belgium, Austria, Moldova and Portugal. In each country, Orange will adjust the shop to the local market by offering specific applications, Francois said.