App Store Holds 85-90% Share of Mobile App Dollars Says Analyst

[StyxMaker]

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You dont buy apps because you don't agree to the share apple gets of the profits? That makes zero sense. As the end consumer the profits the developer makes doesn't affect you at all.

Now if you said you refused to develop for iOS, then you may have a point.

He wants to show his solidarity with the mistreated developers by making sure they get 0% instead of 70% of the selling price of the App.

 

[spazzcat]

Please don't put words into my mouth. I never said I'm boycotting ITMS or the App store. I have no need for either and already stated that for electronic music Beatport is superior in every way. Adding my 2 cents on apples profit sharing does not mean im boycotting.

Without Apple they wouldn't made any money. Apple's cut is part of doing business. And the developer agrees to this before they write their first line of code...

 

[bigcat318]

I like how your entire response was based on a single word I used, and not actually respond to the relevant question.

Not surprising though, because your arguement had no leg to stand on.

You stated, in your words, that you didn't use the app store partially because of the profit sharing. Let me refresh your memoy on what a boycott is:

A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest.

 

[wikus]

I like how your entire response was based on a single word I used, and not actually respond to the relevant question.

Not surprising though, because your arguement had no leg to stand on.

You stated, in your words, that you didn't use the app store partially because of the profit sharing. Let me refresh your memoy on what a boycott is:

A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest.

Your reading comprehension skills are lacking. Let me repeat myself for the third time:

I don't use the app store because i have no need for it.

 

[Icaras]

1) iTunes music store sucks for electronic music. I use beatport.

Then we at least share the same love for electronic music then. I've been a house DJ before, and it's still my most passionately favorite genre of music, but clearly your musical tastes are deprived of choice from the get go. But thats fine that you just love one style of music. No one will fault you for that or should try to change your mind.

But for some people, there is also life outside of one style of music. I'm also a huge on orchestral and film score music, as well some old school Beatles and occasionally I'll dabble in a bit of contemporary rock like Radiohead, so I like to use Beatport in conjunction with iTunes. However as great as Beatport is for fresh off the press newer electronic music and exclusives, I don't think I'm going to find a single film score by John Williams or Hans Zimmer there, let alone The Beatles, do you?

 

[yeah]

1) iTunes music store sucks for electronic music. I use beatport.
2) App store i find useless. I also don't agree with apple's cut in profits.

So would you rather waste gas to go to a box-retailer and buy a CD or just download an app in minutes?

 

[firewood]

If you look at the Android current market share versus these app sales numbers, the ratio looks even worse.

It's the same with hardware. More Android units sold, but iOS takes the majority of the profits in the business.

It really looks like the majority of Android users are low income types who can't afford to buy nicer hardware or apps.

Why develop software (as a business) for customers who spend no money?

As for Apple's cut. I'd far rather have 70% of $3B over 100% of $300M. How about you?

 

[Rodimus Prime]

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Pretty interesting how Android dominates hardware market share, but Apple clearly dominates the the software front. Shouldn't the software business be driving the hardware business? This is at least true in the portable handheld gaming market.

From the looks of it the flaw in the numbers if those are downloads from the get go. In that department Apple had a monster head start so it would have some inflation in the numbers.

That is going to throw a massive wrench in the numbers from the head start Apple App store has. It got the early lead and not enough time has pass for the lead not to be a major factor. It is not a direct Apple's to Apple's comparison so to speak.

 

[SandynJosh]

But for some people, there is also life outside of one style of music.

There's also a lot of life outside of just music on iTunes. I love being able to download CarTalk free to listen to at my leisure, I listen to various radio stations available on iTunes while working on my laptop, and I've learned a lot from the iUniversity free classes on iTunes. I've discovered a couple fine musicians, like Brandi Carlie, by trying the free song-of-the-week on iTunes. However it's not all free fun and games, I do buy a lot of music and a few TV shows from iTunes now and then.

I'm not stuck on iTunes. I go to Amazon for my used CDs and DVD, and even my used books. And I don't forget to use Google to find where the song lyrics may be found. It's all good.

 

[*LTD*]

1) iTunes music store sucks for electronic music. I use beatport.
2) App store i find useless. I also don't agree with apple's cut in profits.

Those might be legitimate reasons (even if the second part of #2 is just ludicrous stretching in order to somehow make your post look justified), but that isn't why you posted here.

 

[hbunting]

Really? So you'd rather have the developer make less money than they deserve? What does apple do to deserve their huge chunk of the pie?

They provide the ecosystem, the credit card processing, hosting of your app, upgrade system. The developer doesn't make less money due to this arrangement.

 

[*LTD*]

I also don't agree with apple's cut in profits.

What does that have to do with you?

 

[Devon61]

This in very interesting in light of Research in Motion's recent claim regarding their 70 million active paid subscribers (up from 50 million last year):

BlackBerry App World apps generate 40 percent more revenue than Android Market apps.

BlackBerry App World apps generate 43 percent more daily downloads than the average iOS app and 48 percent more daily downloads than the average Android app.

13 percent of BlackBerry developers have made $100,000 or more from BlackBerry App World sales, compared with 1 percent of iOS developers who have made more than $1,000.

I guess that since RIM gets nearly $5 per month for each "active paid subscriber" [which works out to about $4 billion a year to RIM] the average BlackBerry subscriber is a much more valuable customer and is also much more likely to be the type of person that is willing to pay a developer for their app. Instead of a small fish in a gigantic iOS/Android pond many BlackBerry developers are able to become gigantic fish in a small but fast growing pond.

 

[marksman]

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The developer agreed to the terms, did they not? They are making profit on software made for hardware Apple developed, are they not? Apple not only provides the medium for the software but also the distribution. Or do you think 500,000sqft data center facilities are free?

You can boycott it all you want. You just have no logical reason for doing so.

It is an illogical viewpoint which is likely not even true no sense debating with them about it when they are not telling the truth in the first place

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Really? So you'd rather have the developer make less money than they deserve? What does apple do to deserve their huge chunk of the pie?

Do you seriously think that retailers pass 100% of a sales price on to anyone who creates the product on their shelves? What does apple do? They provide the entire storefront, handle transactions, push updates, and provide customer care. What DON'T they do? Make you go to a store or find an obscure website for the exact same product.

Yeah the cut is actually much less than the traditional retailer model. People upset about this on behalf of the developers have no idea what they are talking about

 

[dljames9]

Is the App Store a Monopoly?

Do you seriously think that retailers pass 100% of a sales price on to anyone who creates the product on their shelves? What does apple do? They provide the entire storefront, handle transactions, push updates, and provide customer care. What DON'T they do? Make you go to a store or find an obscure website for the exact same product.

The problem is that the app store is the only way to sell an app that runs on iOS. A developer writes an app for OS X, and sells it through his own website. The user downloads an install file, or gets a CDROM, and that's it. Of course the developer can also sell the app through the Apple app store now if they think the exposure is worth while, but they have a choice on what channels they want to market through. What if Apple decided to lock down OS X, and apps could only be installed after they are purchased and downloaded from the Apple run app store, just like the iOS devices are now? No CDROM installs, and no installer packages allowed to be downloaded. People would scream antitrust. What's the difference between your PC and your smartphone, that people are forced to buy and sell through the app store? Would you accept this for all apps developed for your PCs?

 

[vvswarup]

Really? So you'd rather have the developer make less money than they deserve? What does apple do to deserve their huge chunk of the pie?

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Downrank me moreso. Clearly I'm a horrible monster and/or fool for not using the app store or iTunes Music Store. Whoever said I have a choice is also wrong.

The 30% cut is very typical. If people would bother to read the Android Market developer rules, they'd find that Android charges the same cut. Microsoft has indicated that the will charge the same amount.

 

[the8thark]

Asp = ?

The article actually says Average ASP. Or in other words:
Average average selling point.

 

[bigcat318]

Your reading comprehension skills are lacking. Let me repeat myself for the third time:

I don't use the app store because i have no need for it.

My reading comprehension skills? I'm referencing an exact quote from you. An idiotic point about not agreeing with apple's profits that you have abandoned after multiple people called you out on it. You are cherrypicking your own comments. Do you work for a political candidate? You might have a real knack for it.

 

[cire]

I've been a mac user for over 10 years. I've never bought anything from the iTunes or App store and don't intend to.

I was like you once. I remember in my late teens dreading the cashless society and the government control it would usher in. I swore I'd always use cash and never depend upon ATMs. Well, I got over it. I still don't use ATMs...cuz I don't use cash

 

[brayhite]

The problem is that the app store is the only way to sell an app that runs on iOS. A developer writes an app for OS X, and sells it through his own website. The user downloads an install file, or gets a CDROM, and that's it. Of course the developer can also sell the app through the Apple app store now if they think the exposure is worth while, but they have a choice on what channels they want to market through. What if Apple decided to lock down OS X, and apps could only be installed after they are purchased and downloaded from the Apple run app store, just like the iOS devices are now? No CDROM installs, and no installer packages allowed to be downloaded. People would scream antitrust. What's the difference between your PC and your smartphone, that people are forced to buy and sell through the app store? Would you accept this for all apps developed for your PCs?

The difference is that part of the iPhone's appeal and marketing ploy IS that everything is in the Apple-run ecosystem. They don't advertise jailbreaking because they don't want that to be part of the mix and why people buy their product. If Apple PCs were marketed as such, then it'd be the same way. Anti-trust is a control on an industry to impede competition. Apple's curated App Store does nothing to impede competition, i.e. Android. Last time I checked, the Android-based phones were doing pretty well in sales volume. Can't say the same about its app marketplace.

The article actually says Average ASP. Or in other words:
Average average selling point.

My guess is average app selling price/point

 

[firewood]

The problem is that the app store is the only way to sell an app that runs on iOS.

And this is great for iOS developers. Why? Because it appears that more people buy more apps when there is just one big app store, and they can one-stop-shop. As an app developer, I don't want there to be another way to distribute apps if it causes most of my potential customers to stop shopping and stop buying.

Why herds of customers act that way? Your guess.

 

[wikus]

My reading comprehension skills? I'm referencing an exact quote from you. An idiotic point about not agreeing with apple's profits that you have abandoned after multiple people called you out on it. You are cherrypicking your own comments. Do you work for a political candidate? You might have a real knack for it.

Cherrypicking?

Pot. Kettle.

 

[bigcat318]

Cherrypicking?

Pot. Kettle.

So requesting you actually backup 50% of your 2 reasons is cherrypicking?

Your first reason was based on personal preference, I have no argument with that. Your second was idiotic. When you come up with an actual response to my question I'll continue debating. But currently you are a waste of time.

 

[notjustjay]

And this is great for iOS developers. Why? Because it appears that more people buy more apps when there is just one big app store, and they can one-stop-shop. As an app developer, I don't want there to be another way to distribute apps if it causes most of my potential customers to stop shopping and stop buying.

Think about it for a second. Say you're an app developer and you've written an awesome new app and you want to get it out there onto people's phones. Say the app store didn't exist and we're still distributing software like it's 2006.

So you set up a website. You buy yourself a domain and a hosting package -- that's about $100/year -- more if your app proves so popular that you need to start fielding charges for extra bandwidth.

Now you need to make sure your website is slick and friendly looking or your ability to make the sale will suffer. So you need to be a graphic designer as well as a programmer -- or hire someone to make a nice looking website for you.

You intend to make money from this, right? So you need to take payments. PayPal will do, but they'll take a cut out of each app sale you make. Don't want to share your cut? Not everyone comfortable with PayPa? Want to set up your own credit card payment system? OK, you'll need...

... an SSL certificate for your website, renewed every year (anywhere from free to $400+/year)
... static IP for your domain ($5-15/month on top of your existing hosting fees)
... a shopping cart and checkout app installed on your site (there are many good free ones, but you need the time and expertise to set this up)
... an account with a credit card merchant gateway for processing the payments ($20-50/month)

Great! Now you're all set to take money. But nobody knows about your app yet. So you need to...

... prime Google so your app shows up when people search for the right keywords
... send your app out to app portal sites and review sites so people start trying it and get the word out
... spam the forums and the blogs telling everyone about your new app
... make sure your app is listed on ALL the different app sites so you don't miss out on opportunities
... hope that word spreads...

And hope that you can build enough momentum that people start flocking to your site to buy and download your app.

OR...

You could send your app to Apple, and let the money start rolling in. People find your app when they search (because there's only ONE place to search), Apple takes care of all the payment issues, no need to build a website or credit card system, no need to deal with declined payments or refunds, your app shows up on Apple's top 10 lists and maybe even gets featured. No bandwidth charges, no outages, no certificates or hosting packages to keep up to date.

Which do you choose?

 

[firewood]

Now you need to make sure your website is slick and friendly looking or your ability to make the sale will suffer. So you need to be a graphic designer as well as a programmer -- or hire someone to make a nice looking website for you.

A developer needs to do this anyway. According to Apple developer relations, sales of an app from the iOS App store are better if the developers own web site outside of the App store looks professional.

Same with marketing. The vast majority of apps (well over 80%) get no marketing help just from being in the App store. A developer still has to do or buy his or her own marketing, PR and advertising.