Apple launched its App Store last summer, creating a whole new burgeoning industry in the process. Sales of apps in the first month topped $30 million, leading Steve Jobs to predict that the marketplace would be worth $1 billion some day. To date, companies have produced more than 30,000 applications, ranging from games such as Tap Tap Revenge to apartment-hunting help to tools for finding out the name of a song; in all, Apple has processed more than a billion downloads. To capitalize on the trend, venture-capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins have begun investing in app producers; the venerable Sand Hill Road firm has earmarked $100 million for the market.
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