Are appbooks next to exit the App Store?

First it was booby apps, then Wi-Fi stumblers, then cookie-cutter apps. Next Apple may take a hard look at the proliferation of "appbooks" in the App Store.

The lack of a formal mechanism to sell e-books in the iTunes Store has forced enterprising publishers to seek other creative ways to distribute their books in the App Store. Enter appbooks. They're basically books distilled into single-purpose apps that allow you to read, but more importantly pay for them, using the existing App Store plumbing.

Books are a growing phenomenon in the App Store. Last week Mobclix, which does mobile advertising for apps, reported that books now outnumber games in the App Store -- representing 27,000 of the 150,000 titles.

The theory (and it's only a theory) floated by TechCrunch's Jason Kincaid is that appbooks conflict with Apple's forthcoming iBooks app which will be available as a free download for the iPad on April 3. Kincaid also makes the point that the App Store could get too cluttered (or worse, confusing) if appbooks appear alongside iBook titles in search results.

What do you think? Will Apple ban appbooks next?