Every day sees more news from Apple concerning the impact which the iPhone is having on the mobile industry. In fact just this morning I woke to a radio documentary about Zippo, who have recently launched an iPhone application. This  illustrates how the creation of new apps is spawning new uses for smart mobile devices, coupled with an increasing hunger for mobile bandwidth. Apparently it is no longer legal for fans to take lighters into concerts, so Zippo has developed an app that enables fans to shake their iPhone, produce a realistic striking noise on their device and then a flame on their screens that can be held-up in approval of the band!

I mention this to illustrate the fact that Apple has done a fantastic job in stimulating developers to come-up with new applications, which are a prime driver of mobile broadband growth. Their OSX platform not only offers developers the largest global market but also offers a 70% kick-back payment on revenues, which is a great stimulant to uncovering “killer apps”!

Numbers from Apple demonstrate the growing levels of application innovation and adoption by end-users – On July 11th 2008 they launched the App Store for iPhones with 500 apps, which by December had swelled to exceed 10,000 (many for free). During the same period, whilst still in it’s infancy, application downloads to iPhones averaged around 100 Million per month, serving to prove-out the consumer appetite and commercial opportunity of new applications.

With iTunes, Apple has created one of the most successful digital content delivery platforms in the world and more than 6 billion songs have been sold through iTunes to date. Coupled with this, Apple’s recent announcement that iTunes content will be DRM-free with variable pricing is bound to drive increased demand for digital content across all devices.

Of course it’s not just in the area of application development that Apple are driving the mobile industry forward – They have also blazing the trail in packaging smart devices  with applications. The iPhone itself is doing much to shake-up the device side of the industry – Arguably with touch screens having the biggest impact and triggering a fundamental shift in behavior towards using these in all aspects of everyday life.

Apple is clearly leading the mobile industry into the new broadband era and with the announcement this week of their Q1 2009 results they seem set to continue doing this. With record quarterly revenues of $10 billion and record profits of $1.6 billion, backed-up by $25 billion in cash and 35% gross margins – They are clearly the most important company to watch and the combination of the 3G iPhone and iPhone apps on iTunes can only serve to continue having a massive positive impact on the mobile industry as a whole.