App developers seek right formula to cash in on iPhone

The new Apple iPhone marketing campaign promotes iPhone Apps for enterprise use, but it may be awhile before iPhone users start snapping up the business applications on iTunes, as a survey shows iPhones are still overwhelmingly ignored for business use.

Games and entertainment are still the top iPhone Apps categories, and the rumors of video for iPhone OS 3.0 are not likely to draw many business users.

Apple said consumers had downloaded more than 1 billion iPhone applications from its online App Store, and that software developers had filled the store's virtual aisles with more than 35,000 programs.

Apple pockets one-third of all app revenue, as it does with the music, movies, and TV shows it sells.

The dynamics of the marketplace could change this summer, however, when Apple enables software developers to generate reve nue from their apps in new ways.

As for Apple's current campaign promoting the iPhone's enterprise applications, it still appears that iPhone users prefer pleasure to business.