Apple Combats Google-Microsoft-Facebook Troika in App Race

Apple Inc. (AAPL) is releasing a fresh lineup of computers and software tools to woo consumers and keep developers making applications amid accelerating rivalry from Google Inc. (GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and, now, Facebook Inc.

Apple will use the Worldwide Developers Conference starting today in San Francisco to debut Mac computers with high- definition screens, as well as features for the software that powers its iPhone and iPad. Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of product marketing, will probably emcee the keynote.

Workers apply an Apple Inc. logo to the exterior of the Moscone West Center in San Francisco. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Leadership in the consumer-electronics industry hinges on a company’s ability to get developers to put its products first when building the next big application, such as “Angry Birds” or “Shazam.” With more than 600,000 downloadable games, magazines and productivity tools, Apple is the application leader. Microsoft is playing catch-up before the release of its next operating system, Google will host a developers conference this month and Facebook just opened its own store.

“It’s not just a battle for consumers’ hearts and minds — it’s a battle for developers to get that next great application to be available first and foremost on their platform,” said Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. who studies the mobile technology industry. “These companies are duking it out.”

The success of Apple’s App Store has helped create an economy for downloading mobile applications that will reach $58 billion in sales in 2014, according to Gartner Inc. More than 25 billion apps have been downloaded from Apple’s store, and developers have received $4 billion from the sales, according to Cupertino, California-based Apple.