BlackBerry apps more lucrative than iPhone?

[TRlPPlN]

BlackBerry apps more lucrative than iPhone? - CBS News

(MoneyWatch)

COMMENTARY Wireless irony is so delightfully ... ironic. Research in Motion (RIMM) has become the whipping boy of the mobile world. And for good reason: a confused, slow, and ineffective response to competition from Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG); sagging unit sales; and a new CEO who thinks the company was making all the right choices in the first place, thank you very much.

But if RIM's recent claims about the success of BlackBerry apps are at all accurate (always a good question with any corporate pronouncements that you can't independently verify), developers on the "dying" platform may be laughing all the way to the bank. In fact, they might be making a lot more money than the average app developer building on the vaunted iPhone or Android platforms.


Android leads

A few assumptions regarding the state of the mobile market have gone largely unchallenged. One is that apps are a major reason for platform adoption and for the dominance of Apple. That would be odd -- although Android has offered fewer apps, it seems more popular.

If that notion were true, Google couldn't possibly have caught up, given the lead that Apple had in developers devoted to making a buck. But enough consumers found Android attractive enough to make it the market leader, even when it didn't have the massive number of apps available for the iPhone.

Another dubious rule of thumb is the assumption that vast numbers of developers are cleaning up on apps. Apple sounds like either a corporate Carl Sagan or a McDonald's sign when it points to the billions and billions the company has paid out to developers.

Trouble is, Apple's claims say little about how the spoils are distributed. Indeed, I've found that the average iPhone app probably lost money. Same goes for Android. It's like the old PC shareware market. Some companies might have made a mint, but the bulk of developers were getting pin money at best.

In the current mobile market, payouts are concentrated among the most popular apps. It's the high-tech equivalent of becoming the homecoming king: Many want the crown, but few will get it.

That leads to the BlackBerry irony. Developers may support a third-place (at best) platform, but they also might be making more money for their efforts.

Big fish in a small pond?

According to RIM, Blackberry users dowload 6 million daily apps, or more paid-app downloads than on the Android Market. But the really intriguing claim is that 13 percent of the developers have already made $100,000 from the BlackBerry App World.

Of course, that statistic could be misleading. Does making money include picking up consulting business that starts as an app download? And how many apps does the average developer have there?

Even so, RIM appears to be the only platform vendor willing to offer even a clue about how it spreads the wealth. That Apple and Google haven't touted the riches flowing to their broader developer community suggests that only a tiny minority are making big bucks churning out apps for iPhone and Android.

The future of mobile may well be with Apple and Google. For now, though, developers might be far better off focusing first on BlackBerry, growing into big fish in relatively small ponds with far fewer competitors, and then moving their hits over to the other platforms.

When you own an independent business, you sometimes have to see through the popular wisdom and head right to where the zeros accumulate to the left of the decimal point.

[Palmless]

Originally Posted by TRlPPlN

Trouble is, Apple's claims say little about how the spoils are distributed.

I know this article has been destroyed and discredited in another post, even by RIMM faithfuls, but as to the statement above:

$4 Billion Paid to Developers by Apple to Date | Mobile Marketing Watch

[m0n0t0k]

Sounds good to me really! Wish developers would see it like that!

[TRlPPlN]

Originally Posted by Palmless

I know this article has been destroyed and discredited in another post, even by RIMM faithfuls, but as to the statement above:

$4 Billion Paid to Developers by Apple to Date | Mobile Marketing Watch

thanks for enlightening me on that subject.

[grncherry1]

Originally Posted by m0n0t0k

Sounds good to me really! Wish developers would see it like that!

Developers probably see 5000 apps at 2.99(BB) as opposed to 2.5million apps at .99 on Android and Apple. Do the math.

[Economist101]

Originally Posted by grncherry1

Developers probably see 5000 apps at 2.99(BB) as opposed to 2.5million apps at .99 on Android and Apple. Do the math.

Don't forget this math:

15 million BlackBerry devices last quarter
60 million iOS devices sold last quarter

Add to this the fact that one iOS app can hit all 60 million of those recent devices, and you have some context.

[belfastdispatcher]

Originally Posted by Economist101

Don't forget this math:

15 million BlackBerry devices last quarter
60 million iOS devices sold last quarter

Add to this the fact that one iOS app can hit all 60 million of those recent devices, and you have some context.

Your math is wrong too, only some of those numbers go to new owners, and you have to consider the much increased competition in apple apps and apple's high cut of the share

[grncherry1]

Originally Posted by Economist101

Don't forget this math:

15 million BlackBerry devices last quarter
60 million iOS devices sold last quarter

Add to this the fact that one iOS app can hit all 60 million of those recent devices, and you have some context.

And I think Android activations were around 56 to 59 million last quarter.

[tchocky77]

Originally Posted by belfastdispatcher

Your math is wrong too, only some of those numbers go to new owners, and you have to consider the much increased competition in apple apps and apple's high cut of the share

What's it matter if they're not "new owners?" What matters, from RIM's POV, is that someone bought a phone and it wasn't BB.

As for Apple's cut of the price for an app, it's 30%. Across the board. I don't know what percentage RIM or Android keep. Anyone?

[belfastdispatcher]

Originally Posted by tchocky77

What's it matter if they're not "new owners?" What matters, from RIM's POV, is that someone bought a phone and it wasn't BB.

As for Apple's cut of the price for an app, it's 30%. Across the board. I don't know what percentage RIM or Android keep. Anyone?

It matters because already purchased app get transferred to the new device.

[tchocky77]

Isn't that the case with RIM or Android as well? Also,....what percentage of the price for an application does RIM keep for hosting it in the BB store?

[bbpandy]

Originally Posted by tchocky77

What's it matter if they're not "new owners?" What matters, from RIM's POV, is that someone bought a phone and it wasn't BB.

As for Apple's cut of the price for an app, it's 30%. Across the board. I don't know what percentage RIM or Android keep. Anyone?

Last I heard it was around 10%.....So right there you get a 20% saving just by not selling on Apple. Also, as we all know, apps are more expensive on BB AppWorld, thus increasing the profits per App.

[tchocky77]

Originally Posted by bbpandy

Last I heard it was around 10%.....So right there you get a 20% saving just by not selling on Apple. Also, as we all know, apps are more expensive on BB AppWorld, thus increasing the profits per App.

Thanks for the info. Can you cite that? Not that I don't believe you,....but it's a fairly concrete thing that should be somewhere prominently in black and white. See this kind of wishy-washiness is a big part of the problem. Take release dates for example...Apple tells you what the new product is, that it's either available "today" or will be in 4-6 weeks; a month or so later it's on the shelves, exactly as advertised. RIM tells you that an update is coming "later this year" or "by the end of summer", when what they mean is the end of Q3 next year. An arbitrary, self-imposed dead line they may or may not meet. It would be laughable if it weren't sad. Apple has conditioned the tech-buying public not to settle for that kind of ineptitude. There's just no need for it. Don't talk about your products until they're ready for release. (PlayBook OS). And for DAMN sure don't release a flagship product so woefully unfinished. (PlayBook itself.)

But back on topic,....if BB only charges the developer 10% of each sale, then that's awesome! Though I reckon most developers see the extra 20% charged in the iOS app store as worth it because it's a much larger potential market. Lots of devs just don't bother with with BB at all. (Netflix) Or have seen such disappointing sales they decide BB is no longer worth the effort. (Kayak)

EDIT; Also,...I'm still wondering if devices purchased in the BB or Android app stores transfer from phone to phone. I understand that there are fragmentation issues (which Apple eliminates from their ecosystem entirely), but if I've purchased an OS 7 app on one phone, it'll work on my new OS7 phone as well, right?

[trelawrence]

I have a question: if one buys a BB app, how many devices can one use that app on concurrently?

Also interested in knowing what cut of the sale RIM takes.

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[belfastdispatcher]

"Lots of devs just don't bother with with BB at all. (Netflix) Or have seen such disappointing sales they decide BB is no longer worth the effort. (Kayak)"

Netflix app would be free anyway no? And Kayak have lost to the awsome Blackberry Travel free app.

New services will always come up and old ones will be left behind.