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macOS iPhone Developers - What do you plan to charge?
- Thread starter Buschmaster
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Talk about a bargain!
iPhone vs. PalmPilot software prices?
Note that many of the most popular commercial PalmOS/Treo applications sell for $15 to $30, even though there was tons of freeware also available for that platform. Since iPhone and iPod Touch devices currently sell for about the same price as PalmPilots did at the peak of that platforms popularity, why would software prices be very different between the two platforms?
Note that many of the most popular commercial PalmOS/Treo applications sell for $15 to $30, even though there was tons of freeware also available for that platform. Since iPhone and iPod Touch devices currently sell for about the same price as PalmPilots did at the peak of that platforms popularity, why would software prices be very different between the two platforms?
At first every kid and wanta-be programmer will offer something for $1 to $6. No matter what you can think of you can bet there will be 50 of them offered for sale. Quality will in general be quite low but with some exeptions.
Later we will see free Open Source versions of popular applications. These will take longer to appear but because they are the work of groups of programmers cooperating it takes a while to organize. It will be very hard for one person working alone and charging even $1 to compete with a group who works simply because they enjoy it. If one of these open source apps becomes popular then we might see even more programmers attracted to the project.
The way to make money is not to sell a million copies of some very small program that anyone could duplicate in a month, no that will not work because 100 peope will see you getting rich off a month's work and try yhr same thing. What you need to d is sell one copy of the program for a million dollars. Or manybe one copy for $100K. or 100 copies for $1k each but in either case what yu are really selling is a service to a very few people who need something very tailored to their needs. For example I'm working on software to process telemetry from space launch boosters. I know my users by first name, all of them. In the past I've worked on radar signal processors, military simulations, flight control software. High value low volume is the only way anyone makes money with software.
My advice if you DO want to try and get ritch with a $2 per copy unit conversion tool. Invent about 50 "brands" and make 50 slightly different copies of your program. Because there will be 200 people all trying to sell unit converters and if you are selling 50 brands that gives you 25% market share. Hey I didn't think of this. Coca-Cola bottling company and Philip Morris figured it out long ago. ou need to cover the full range of price points. Sell the unit converters for every even dollar from $1 to $12 and have about 20 registered domain names and internet sites
Later we will see free Open Source versions of popular applications. These will take longer to appear but because they are the work of groups of programmers cooperating it takes a while to organize. It will be very hard for one person working alone and charging even $1 to compete with a group who works simply because they enjoy it. If one of these open source apps becomes popular then we might see even more programmers attracted to the project.
The way to make money is not to sell a million copies of some very small program that anyone could duplicate in a month, no that will not work because 100 peope will see you getting rich off a month's work and try yhr same thing. What you need to d is sell one copy of the program for a million dollars. Or manybe one copy for $100K. or 100 copies for $1k each but in either case what yu are really selling is a service to a very few people who need something very tailored to their needs. For example I'm working on software to process telemetry from space launch boosters. I know my users by first name, all of them. In the past I've worked on radar signal processors, military simulations, flight control software. High value low volume is the only way anyone makes money with software.
My advice if you DO want to try and get ritch with a $2 per copy unit conversion tool. Invent about 50 "brands" and make 50 slightly different copies of your program. Because there will be 200 people all trying to sell unit converters and if you are selling 50 brands that gives you 25% market share. Hey I didn't think of this. Coca-Cola bottling company and Philip Morris figured it out long ago. ou need to cover the full range of price points. Sell the unit converters for every even dollar from $1 to $12 and have about 20 registered domain names and internet sites
I think the numbers break down this way...
By the end of june, 5M iPhones sold. HOWEVER, only 3M active on AT&T and ready for the 2.0 firmware. If 1M phones in the US (and abroad) are unlocked and on another carrier, they aren't available to sell apps to. Once firmware 2.0 is hacked so that you can use whatever SIM/Carrier you want, the numbers start to look better. So my baseline number is 3M units to sell to in June, 7.5M by Christmas (mostly due to 3G launch).
So I figure my sales target is 0.5%, or 15,000 units @ $5 ea is about $53K (35K after taxes if you have an accountant worth their salt). Almost enough to go buy a new G35 Coupe.
By the end of june, 5M iPhones sold. HOWEVER, only 3M active on AT&T and ready for the 2.0 firmware. If 1M phones in the US (and abroad) are unlocked and on another carrier, they aren't available to sell apps to. Once firmware 2.0 is hacked so that you can use whatever SIM/Carrier you want, the numbers start to look better. So my baseline number is 3M units to sell to in June, 7.5M by Christmas (mostly due to 3G launch).
So I figure my sales target is 0.5%, or 15,000 units @ $5 ea is about $53K (35K after taxes if you have an accountant worth their salt). Almost enough to go buy a new G35 Coupe.
There are different ways to make money, not just high value low volume. Not everyone will have the resources to develop enterprise level software or have connections to make specialized software for people who can pay $100k for a license. If those options are available to you then great, but it's not for everybody and not the ONLY way.
You wouldn't expect some body off the street to walk into a Fortune 500 CIO's office and say buy my iPhone software for $250K, it'll help you run your business better. That's not realistic.
However as an example (one that I've used already) a "casual game", i.e. games designed for non-gamers. Something that can just be picked up and played for a few minutes to just pass the time can be very cheap and generate high volume sales. It is no secret why Nintendo Wii, Xbox Live Arcade and PS3 store have all of these things built right into their consoles. It is for this very purpose. Selling cheap games at high volume.
Ultimately the software has to be of high quality. No matter if it is $5 or $500K.
I think an important part to remember is that these are people who paid $400 for a phone plus spend at least $60 per month on a phone bill.
I plan to launch with 3 apps and base charging on the function and my demographic. One will likely be free, one $5, and one $15. Personally, when the new NIN album released at $5 - that hit a sweet spot for me mentally (yes, that's like comparing apples to a rock band).
I would say don't undervalue your product. But at the same time, it's easier to raise your price later than hurt your initial customers.
I plan to offer free upgrades to customers for probably a year, if not forever. Anyone have thoughts on upgrades and cost?
I plan to launch with 3 apps and base charging on the function and my demographic. One will likely be free, one $5, and one $15. Personally, when the new NIN album released at $5 - that hit a sweet spot for me mentally (yes, that's like comparing apples to a rock band).
I would say don't undervalue your product. But at the same time, it's easier to raise your price later than hurt your initial customers.
I plan to offer free upgrades to customers for probably a year, if not forever. Anyone have thoughts on upgrades and cost?