[asherwiin]

http://forums.crackberry.com/f243/bl...er-app-616379/

This discussion thread over in the Apps and Games Forum is worth repeating here, where there is a wider readership!

Good analysis and justification for developers to create apps for the Playbook, in my opinion!

[OMGitworks]

Honestly I REALLY hope there are lots of Apps for PB, but the analysis and headline are TOTALLY misleading. True, yes, but the numbers he uses don't support his thesis. Dev's only care what THEIR app will make them, how many THEY sell. Dev's made ten times more money on iTunes last year. iTunes has 15 times more apps so rev per app is in fact higher for BB, but it is a meaningless statistic. The # of current PB owners is about 250,000 while iPAd is expected to sell 50 Million just this year. Therefore the potential customer pool is over 200 times greater, 500 times more if we count iPad1 and iPhone. Again, I hope we see some good Apps for PB and soon, but this Author really misleads with his statistics and thesis. He completely ignores that due to a different OS, BB apps can not just be installed on a PB as well so each sale will require much more work to reach the additional device. Statistics, damn statistics....

[dandbj13]

Perhaps I missed something. Doesn't that just mean that PB apps are more expensive? Isn't that just a simptom of having a small user base? How is this good news for developers?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[CrackedBarry]

1: BB apps have been obscenely overpriced for a long time. It's only lately that the selection of free and 99 cent apps is improving. If revenue is higher on App World, part of the reason is that all the 10 dollar themes are raising the average revenue. That doesn't mean that developers are making more money than on App Market, however. (The number of available apps and developers suggest otherwise, in fact.)
I'm not saying that you're wrong, I'm saying we don't really have all the information we need to deduce which platform is making more money for devs.

2. Ease of development.
This has annoyed me for years... RIMs stupid decision to keep the BB SDK locked up has made developing for BBOS an order of magnitude harder than developing for iOS of Android. Especially since you're dealing with such a variety of screens, buttons and OS versions. The lack of an SDK is also why you don't see apps on BBs that are as interesting or slick or pretty as their counterparts on other platforms. That's part of the reward of being a developer as well, besides revenue. The ability to make an awesome product.
Release the SDK, and that'll bring in a boost of developers all by itself.

[Hankster]

BlackBerry apps do generate more revenue PER SALE. And, that's the problem. I'm guessing the OP doesn't understand economics or business very well.

I don't want to buy a simple app for $9.99 when the exact same app costs only $1.99 on an iPad, iPhone, or Android. Get it?

Developers create apps for profit by selling high volumes, NOT by selling at a high price. This is why up to this point all BlackBerry apps suck. I recall buying a weather app for my Tour years ago for $9.99. That same app, or even better, on the iPhone is $1.99. No thanks.

[OMGitworks]

Perhaps I missed something. Doesn't that just mean that PB apps are more expensive? Isn't that just a simptom of having a small user base? How is this good news for developers?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Unfortunately it is not good news, just true facts with a poor headline and thesis. Its the catch 22 RIM has with apps and now the PB. Less users and harder development procedure means the devs have to charge more money for an app to make more than minimum wage. I do not knwo the specifics, but would guess that using the QNX os will make it even more difficult to modify existing BB apps and more daunting for new Devs to develop new Apps. They may love the possibilities but with 500x less users to potentially sell to, what market would you develop the App for?

The key for me would be have a Netflix, Weather Channel, Skype, ESPN, NY Times and other apps that are free and work well, at least to get started.

[BBThemes]

Developers create apps for profit by selling high volumes, NOT by selling at a high price.

i totally agree with you, as is always reflected in the price of my apps/themes. way i see it you have 2 ways of doing things, a higher price with less purchasers, or a lower price with more purchasers, now while the end figure could easily be similar either way, the more `eyes on` the product, the better your chance of recurring business. thats simply my views of course.

[trsbbs]

I do think the current 30% take by RIM for an app sale in App World is a little high.

This percentage does appear to cause apps in App World to be higher then maybe other sources, but over all I have found few apps that I feel/felt were over priced.
instead I have found some useful and well written apps to be slightly under-priced.

Example is $2.99 for aVNC and $4.99 for File Manager is a little off.

Both good programs but the later seems too high for something that will probably
be pushed to the side when RIM (if RIM does) comes out with one.
But then he has to make the $$$s while he can.

Tim

[Kerms]

i totally agree with you, as is always reflected in the price of my apps/themes. way i see it you have 2 ways of doing things, a higher price with less purchasers, or a lower price with more purchasers, now while the end figure could easily be similar either way, the more `eyes on` the product, the better your chance of recurring business. thats simply my views of course.

Yup sometimes less is more. I rather sale 4 copies at .25 than 1 copy at $1. Those 4 people will tell a friend and so forth. In the long wrong I'll move more units and make more. Especially when the .25 & $1 apps are very similar in function.

The more eyes comment is something I hit on yesterday in a thread about developing for the PB using a repacked android app vs a PB NDK app. I feel like the adding the android capabilities before the ndk may hinder the PB native app development.

If I'm an android developer and I have an app that I can quickly repackage, get into the market first, get most people to buy it before someone comes up with a native app people are more than likely to (a) say oh well I already have this app, is it worth the extra for the native one(b) see that android app has a more popular ranking(meaning it should be in the popular downloads),cheaper and just buy it.

Being first, cheaper and as you say having more eyes on the apps will generate sales.