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iPhone Developers: What are your prices?

Greencardman

Greencardman

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 24, 2003
490
2
Madison, WI
I run a blog about entrepreneurship and iPhone applications (see sig), and I'm looking to get feedback from developers about their pricing strategies and thoughts. What kind of app do you have, and what will you price it as? Basically, I hope to write a post about what people think the market expects, what strategies people will be using, etc. Also, it will help some people who have no idea what to price their app at to have some guidance.

If you're willing to share your pricing strategy, you can email me at tom@iphoneappentrepreneur.com. All info will be kept confidential or anonymous if you want it, just write so in the email. Try to include type of app, and what your initial price will be. Hopefully, if i get enough replies I can give people an idea of what to expect come launch day.

If you're not willing to go into detail, but would like to add your app to the compiled info, an email with your type of app and initial price will work great, no need to identify it by name.

Thanks for all who reply,
Tom

P.S.
I'm also looking for screenshots of the process of adding your app to the app store when it becomes available. I think it would be great for new developers. Same email.
 
I'm also curious as to what is being worked on by these thousands of developers and how much most of them are pricing their apps for
 
I've gotten a few back so far. The lowest is (obviously) free, and on the upper range, I have not seen one over $20. I'm looking especially to get more games in, because those seem the hardest to price, usually because they range in functionality so much. So if you've developed a game and have come up with a price, let me know.
 
Sirius Satellite Radio for iPhone: This will be free and supported by small tasteful ads as well as a buy it now from iTunes feature for currently playing songs.

Games: This is a pretty competitive arena... so I don't want to disclose specifics... however this is most likely where price gouging will occur from some companies/developers. I have several slated and plan to offer them anywhere from free to $4.95. I would say 70% between free and $2.99, and 30% between $2.99 and $4.95.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

can't wait for the app store. I take it each country will have their own??
let's hope us in the UK don't get charged more for the apps like we do with music.
 
redgaz26 said:
can't wait for the app store. I take it each country will have their own??
let's hope us in the UK don't get charged more for the apps like we do with music.
Click to expand...


All we've seen so far indicates that developers will get to set their prices; Apple takes a cut of those, so there's nothing added on top (unless there are applicable taxes).

I don't really see developers charging more in the UK, for instance. Actually, you bring up a good point - I don't even see developers having to do anything special for different countries' stores. Otherwise, for small developers, it would be a management nightmare!
 
I'll be working on a post on this topic after the app store opens. Its actually a very good topic, because the exchange rate can make a very big difference. For example, if you're U.S. based and the dollar goes down, and you don't change your euro prices, you might want to concentrate ad spending or press releases on european centric blogs/sites, because you will be getting more money for each Euro sale than you would for each U.S. sale. Small potatoes if you sell few copies, but it could be a big deal if you sell a lot.
 
I can also see developers charging different prices, just like music is priced. For one thing, there are natural price points, ie, .99, that make different prices easy to justify, because its only a bit more/less etc. Plus, the exchange rates and market in each country is different, so publishers might want to try gain entry into a specific country by undercutting the competition, while maintaining the price in another country.
 
bitslap47 said:
Sirius Satellite Radio for iPhone: This will be free and supported by small tasteful ads as well as a buy it now from iTunes feature for currently playing songs.
Click to expand...

Uh... this isn't about making stuff up in your imagination.
Unless you work for Sirius, you can't make a Sirius app for the iPhone.
 
JBaker122586 said:
You can't listen to Sirius radio without a Sirius subscription though.
Click to expand...

Of course not.

You are free to sign up for and use a 3 day trial account, then you can purchase an internet only sub if you don't want a physical radio.

We will be supporting XM as well as other content providers.
 
bitslap47 said:
Of course not.

You are free to sign up for and use a 3 day trial account, then you can purchase an internet only sub if you don't want a physical radio.

We will be supporting XM as well as other content providers.
Click to expand...

Alright, when I understood that your app would be "ad supported but free," I assumed you meant listen for free, and that's why I said you couldn't do that unless you were on Sirius' payroll.

Thanks, because that's actually an app I was hoping would come out for the iPhone. Will it be ready at 2.0 launch? Have you tried it on EDGE, or will it be WiFi/3G exclusive?
 
JBaker122586 said:
You can't listen to Sirius radio without a Sirius subscription though.
Click to expand...

That's obvious, do you want a free one? I don't get your comment, so the app isnt worth developing because you have to pay for sirius, what about the almost 9 million people, and probably the hundred thousand or so who have an iPhone and want there sirius on it through the internet? So i don't get it..

I am a Sirius subscriber, this would rock, and geekstoolbox always has good Sirius interfaces for mobile phones. But this is going to be a good feature, geekstoolbox dev's rock! If you dont believe check out Sirius for WM, they have it it is great.
 
As someone who is looking forward to buying apps (when the store is open), I can say that any developer pricing their work above 20 dollars for an iPhone app is seriously dreaming.

When you consider that Apple sold their full-blown email app (such as it is) and threw in five freebie apps with it, for only 20 dollars ...

Well, it's pretty hard to imagine what kind of application could be worth more. I will buy games and small utilities if they are about five bucks like all the previous iPod games, but that's about it.

If you are even thinking of 10 bucks for your app make sure it:

- has pornography
- has some addictive/gambling component
- cooks dinner and takes out the trash.

otherwise it might be a hard sell. ;)

.
 
JBaker122586 said:
Alright, when I understood that your app would be "ad supported but free," I assumed you meant listen for free, and that's why I said you couldn't do that unless you were on Sirius' payroll.

Thanks, because that's actually an app I was hoping would come out for the iPhone. Will it be ready at 2.0 launch? Have you tried it on EDGE, or will it be WiFi/3G exclusive?
Click to expand...

I works great on EDGE... even the CD Quality stream. Low quality even works on just GPRS. 3G will give some additional overhead for seamless streaming in low signal strength areas.

Think accelerometer controlled driving game where the in game "radio" is actually your Sirius subscription playing in the background.

Think live interactive radio contests where you play a video game to compete for concert tickets

The new StreamSmart system allows for all of these kinds of things from many content providers.

That type of stuff.
 
Virgil-TB2 said:
As someone who is looking forward to buying apps (when the store is open), I can say that any developer pricing their work above 20 dollars for an iPhone app is seriously dreaming.
Click to expand...

Any application people will actually use for work - to, you know, make money - will be worth at least $50, and if it's priced any less, then the developer is crazy.

I would gladly pay $100 for an iPhone application if it helped me with my daily work.
 
neven said:
Any application people will actually use for work - to, you know, make money - will be worth at least $50, and if it's priced any less, then the developer is crazy.

I would gladly pay $100 for an iPhone application if it helped me with my daily work.
Click to expand...

Then you obviously aren't in an average income bracket. :)
 
Virgil-TB2 said:
As someone who is looking forward to buying apps (when the store is open), I can say that any developer pricing their work above 20 dollars for an iPhone app is seriously dreaming.
Click to expand...

Virgil-TB2, you are forgetting enterprise apps. For consumer apps the price points are definitely lower. But enterprise applications that help large companies save time and money can be priced much higher than $20.
 
gloss said:
Then you obviously aren't in an average income bracket. :)
Click to expand...

What exactly is the difference between paying $50 for a Mac app and paying the same for an iPhone app, if I need the app?

Is everyone who buys computer software outside of the average income bracket?
 
neven said:
What exactly is the difference between paying $50 for a Mac app and paying the same for an iPhone app, if I need the app?

Is everyone who buys computer software outside of the average income bracket?
Click to expand...

Because the idea of an iPhone app approaching the robustness of a $50 desktop app is kind of ridiculous to me. At best, I see iPhone programs being useful, simpler, mobile versions of the desktop programs they match, and as such being offered at a lower price.
 
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