iPhone Developer Tapulous Captures Sales of Nearly $1 Million Per Month

[MacRumors]

Reuters reports on iPhone developer Tapulous, the team behind the popular Tap Tap Revenge applications, noting that the small company is reportedly bringing in nearly $1 million per month in revenue. The success of Tapulous, which boasts only 20 employees, illustrates the ability of small development firms dedicated to the iPhone to carve out profitable niches for themselves in the App Store.

Tapulous -- with a mere 20 employees -- said its "Tap Tap Revenge" game series has now been installed more than 20 million times, with more than 600 million total games played.

Earlier this year, research group comScore said the game had been installed by one-third of Apple app users.

Tapulous' business model relies on a combination of revenue sources: paid application downloads, ads, and paid downloadable song content within applications.

The report notes that Tapulous has raised $2.8 million from investors and is now profitable. While the vast majority of iPhone applications come from small developers lacking the support of outside investors, a number of companies, including Smule and Ngmoco, have been able to capture the imaginations of angel and venture capital investors. With the backing of these investors, these developers have been able to create well-financed startup development houses looking to develop dedicated iPhone application pipelines and sustainable business models.

Article Link: iPhone Developer Tapulous Captures Sales of Nearly $1 Million Per Month

 

[///M5]

So? Is this supposed to encourage us develop apps for the iPhone?

 

[hugodrax]

I wonder if Windows mobile made this much for its independent app writers.

 

[Compile 'em all]

I wish I could capture 0.0000000000001% of that

 

[kdarling]

So? Is this supposed to encourage us develop apps for the iPhone?

Sure, just get $2.8 million in seed money like they did, hire 20 people, and start writing highly desirable games.

(They were especially smart to have song sales within their apps.)

 

[Vandam500]

That is impressive indeed

 

[stagi]

Wow that is very impressive!

 

[brianadkins]

I wish I could capture 0.0000000000001% of that

... you're asking for a tiny fraction of a penny every month?

 

[slu]

Not bad for what appears to me to be no more than a Guitar Hero rip off.

 

[nim23]

I wish I could capture 0.0000000000001% of that

??

Sounds like if you had a head full of dynamite, you wouldn't have enough to blow your hat off...

Having said that, hats off to all the successful app developers out there, wish I was capable of developing. I think there is a fortune to be made in the industry.

 

[doobi18]

Anyone know how much NateTrue sold the game (Tap Tap Revolution) to Tapulous for?

 

[fribhey]

am i the only one who thinks this game sucks?

 

[ChazUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 1.5; en-gb; Archos5 Build/CUPCAKE) AppleWebKit/528.5+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.2 Mobile Safari/525.20.1)

Good going IMO.

Just goes to show that: Decent app + iTunes app store = Win

 

[kolax]

Surprised it's possible to get an app or few out there and wave so much cash in consistently.

 

[igazza]

1 million sales plus 30% of apple tax

impressive

 

[sushi]

Good news!

am i the only one who thinks this game sucks?

Obviously, there must be many who enjoy their games.

 

[kolax]

1 million sales plus 30% of apple tax

30% is nothing - developer gets 70% and doesn't have to worry about transactions etc, and gets paid routinely too. The model works and I don't think a single developer would argue against Apple's "tax" for the benefits they get.

 

[eastcoastsurfer]

Instead of averages or total numbers, I'd like to see the median of developers making enough money on the app store to sustain themselves. Stories like this are very much like winning the lottery.

 

[sbrhwkp3]

Instead of averages or total numbers, I'd like to see the median of developers making enough money on the app store to sustain themselves. Stories like this are very much like winning the lottery.

Eh... that would depend entirely on their business model.

There are developers out there that invested practically nothing but their time into their apps and are cashing in, then there are developers like this one that had huge sums invested and came out on top.

It may be a bit of a crap shoot, but it's much like a pioneers journey more or less. They've gotta have the right idea for an app and the right plan in order to make it happen.

 

[roach]

It would be amazing if they consistently made that much every month, but once the market gets flooded with similar products... adios million dollar a month.

 

[DipDog3]

Instead of averages or total numbers, I'd like to see the median of developers making enough money on the app store to sustain themselves. Stories like this are very much like winning the lottery.

It's all about marketing!

That is what really matters!

 

[igazza]

30% is nothing - developer gets 70% and doesn't have to worry about transactions etc, and gets paid routinely too. The model works and I don't think a single developer would argue against Apple's "tax" for the benefits they get.

apples 30% cut could be tens of millions per day. i dont think the app store costs that much to run..

But your right developers are happy.

 

[Goona]

apples 30% cut could be tens of millions per day. i dont think the app store costs that much to run..

But your right developers are happy.

LOL you don't think the app store costs that much to run, I'm guessing you work at Apple headquarters?

 

[kdarling]

There are developers out there that invested practically nothing but their time into their apps and are cashing in, then there are developers like this one that had huge sums invested and came out on top.

Developer time is not "nothing" It's pretty much everything, in fact.

Perhaps you meant that there are developers who invested practically NO time in making their apps?

30% is nothing - developer gets 70% and doesn't have to worry about transactions etc, and gets paid routinely too. The model works and I don't think a single developer would argue against Apple's "tax" for the benefits they get.

Perhaps not most smalltime guys, but I would think that major development companies don't like Apple's tax at all.

For example, companies like Sling and TomTom usually sold their apps through their own websites. Their apps are popular enough for people to seek out on their own.

 

[Compile 'em all]

It's all about marketing!

That is what really matters!

Many apps made ZERO marketing and reached #1 top paid in the states.