Australian appreneurs who made Fruit Ninja and TomTom Australia apps

AUSSIE entrepreneurs get mega-rich with worldwide top-selling smartphone and tablet apps, such as Fruit Ninja and TomTom Australia.

fruit ninja

THEY make an odd pair - one is a cheap and cheerful cartoon game where users slice fruit with a samurai sword, the other an innovative GPS program that changes with the traffic conditions.

But together they represent Australia's top-selling applications for smartphones and tablets, applications that have made millions of dollars for their companies.

Welcome to the exciting world of appreneurs, the creative realm where a simple mobile phone application can make you mega rich.

Just ask the boys at Halfbrick Studios. They developed Fruit Ninja, where you unleash your sword-wielding inner ninja on fruit.

The game, which costs 99c, is listed as the world's fourth top-selling paid app for the iPhone, having been downloaded 25 million times. It's the No. 1 paid app in Germany, Norway, Czech Republic, Russia, Israel, Taiwan and Macau.

TomTom Australia has the third-highest grossing app in the world with its GPS mapping system for the iPhone - a reflection of its $74.99 price tag rather than the number of downloads.

Halfbrick marketing manager Phil Larsen said: "While many (people) would dismiss online games as leisure activities and time wasters, Halfbrick is proving the virtues of new online business models and backing it with prolific sales."

TomTom vice-president and Asia Pacific managing director Chris Kearney said the success of his company's GPS app shows users were willing to pay for quality products.

Another successful appreneur is Sydney's Graham Dawson, who created the popular OZweather application which set a record for longevity in the top-10 list on the Australian iTunes store.

Darren Winterford, another Sydneysider, is also making waves with a popular alarm clock application which wakes users to the voice and video of Pamela Anderson.