1. Canuck671's Avatar
    I have been thinking about the preceived app problem with BB10/Playbook.

    I cannot believe an app company hasn't considered a few basic points about sales and ROE.

    It has been demonstrated numerous times that blackberry users on average are paying for quality apps much more often than other platform users. I am not talking about simple free gimiky ones, but actual applications that either serve a specific user driven purpose, or work with native applications between bb platforms.

    By simply seeing the small sales of this platform they seem to be missing a huge point. It has been proven that you can have profit multiples in a small dedicated demographic within an environment that has limited options, but has quality versus a large demographic that is overburdened with excessive choice.

    Simply put, a great business leader once said ; "you can catch big fish in a small pond"

    I have shown these business models to a few close and quite adept business people, without naming the models data pool. They did agree that based on the simple structure, it was a very viable business idea.

    What has me confused is, why there seems to be a lack of interest. Is the programming to difficult to implement?

    I welcome any productive comments. Trolls need not bother.

    Thanks

    kretch likes this.
    03-25-12 09:22 PM
  2. ffejrobins30's Avatar
    Writing and implementing code for the PB/BB10 platform is very easy. I picked it up in a couple of hours and had a working version of a PC app I wrote. I use it daily now. The reason that a lot of companies have not moved over is because it's a very small base of users right now. Hopefully once the phone devices come out, it'll catch and spread like wildfire.
    03-25-12 09:45 PM
  3. 530XI's Avatar
    Whoever makes the first decent ballistics app is definitely getting my money.
    03-25-12 09:48 PM
  4. chaddeus's Avatar
    Say you have a great application idea and you are tight on resources (people, time, money etc), which platform would you want to create first for this great application idea of yours? WebOS? RIM QNX? iOS etc?

    The programming might not be difficult but the idea that not a lot of people is using Playbook compared to iOS is a reason why they dont make application for Playbook. Maybe they will do it but they will put it in a lower priority. When both iOS and Android are done, they then move to Playbook.

    This is not an easy cycle to get out off. RIM would hope millions of developers would jump and support Playbook but Developers would hope millions of users would jump and use Playbook. So its a chicken or egg story.

    I dont know how but obviously RIM need to entice and persuade these developers (or even pay them money) to create applications. But on the bright side, the BB 10 and Playbook will share the same QNX DNA. So hopefully, things will be better tomorrow

    - Charles
    03-25-12 10:07 PM
  5. peter9477's Avatar
    From one PlayBook developer to all those other potential BB10 developers who may be reading this thread, I'd like to say one thing: the man clearly doesn't know what he's talking about. Please move along to other threads, maybe even just back to the non-CrackBerry forums you generally read, because clearly there's no money to be made here.

    I mean, there may be a few scraps, but I'll volunteer to sacrifice myself by staying here instead of developing for the other platforms and taking your hard-earned money away from you.

    I'm sure that the talk of BlackBerry users spending more money is just rumour, silly stuff really, nobody could believe that. Sure, polls show they're in what are usually peak earning years, but BB phones don't really run apps, I mean not well or anything, and RIM's clearly getting no traction with the new OS so there's hardly any users to buy things anyway.

    Besides, RIM's dead, right? I read it on CNET, or maybe it was BGR or somewhere. After all, with a stock price that low how could any company ever recover? Seriously, you can read this stuff on all the other sites, and anything you find here contradicting it is clearly biased, just the talk of fanboys.

    So non-BB devs, stay happy, stay focused elsewhere, leave this pathetic little niche market out of your plans. Heck, we don't even have a good native development environment yet.

    Tell you what... check back with me in, say, a year, maybe two, and I'll be happy to show you how terrible business has been, and you'll thank me for warning you.
    03-25-12 10:52 PM
  6. SCrid2000's Avatar
    Stop trying to keep the niche market for yourself lol.
    Yeah, the top apps on PlayBook aren't gonna touch the $ the top apps in iOS or Android make. BUT, if you have an app that's just an average app, you're much better off on BlackBerry. I know several android developers who make maybe $20 every month or two off their apps because of the complete oversaturation of android apps, and iOS is even worse.
    Millions? Probably not. But let me tell you, when those student loans come due I'll be happy with low hundreds every month. It's better than $20 on android.
    Last edited by SCrid2000; 03-26-12 at 12:03 AM.
    03-25-12 11:59 PM
  7. Canuck671's Avatar
    ok maybe not millions, but it was a better title then a couple of bucks here and there.

    Thanks for the input.


    I will just keep spending my ten bucks or so a month, hope that helps someone.

    03-26-12 01:38 PM
  8. papped's Avatar
    What has me confused is, why there seems to be a lack of interest. Is the programming to difficult to implement?
    Not really, there are so many different methods to make apps, you could make a webworks app in a couple minutes that is easy to port to BB phones as well.

    The packaging/signing stuff can be a little confusing, but that's a one-time setup.

    The unique aspect is, you can make money with apps in Appworld that you couldn't elsewhere. That's something that I think a lot of people are overlooking.
    03-26-12 01:40 PM
  9. CrackedBarry's Avatar
    Try to look up Appcelerators newest study regarding developer interest.

    Between 80-90% of developers are interested in developing for iPads and Android tablets. The same figure regarding Playbook and Blackberry development is 10% for the Playbook and 20% for Blackberry phones.

    The problem is not that developers somehow aren't aware of the Playbook. The problem is that the tools are better and easier for other platforms, and the install base is vastly smaller. Even if half of Playbook users would be willing to buy an app, that would only be 500.000-750.000 customers. Apple sells 50 MILLION iPads a year, so just ten percent of that would be around ten million customers...
    03-26-12 02:20 PM
  10. BB10Apps's Avatar
    Try to look up Appcelerators newest study regarding developer interest.

    Between 80-90% of developers are interested in developing for iPads and Android tablets. The same figure regarding Playbook and Blackberry development is 10% for the Playbook and 20% for Blackberry phones.

    The problem is not that developers somehow aren't aware of the Playbook. The problem is that the tools are better and easier for other platforms, and the install base is vastly smaller. Even if half of Playbook users would be willing to buy an app, that would only be 500.000-750.000 customers. Apple sells 50 MILLION iPads a year, so just ten percent of that would be around ten million customers...
    There are a lot of people that have iPads and there are a ton of apps but for indie developers there is such a huge opportunity here!! I can't stress that enough. Read forums for IOS developers a lot of them don't get that many sales. Some of their apps are well done and even then they don't make much. What usually happens is their sales will peak in the first week maybe 30 sales then drops to like 1 or 2 a day. The majority of money being made in IOS is going to like 10 studios( look it up ). The percentage is huge like 90 percent or something like that. The rest goes to the smaller companies and then trickles to the developers. I'm honestly surprised that developers aren't jumping all over bb10. Particularly indie devs. The fact is that it's a gamble when making an app. You might make money u might not. But the chances for success are so much higher for it on the playbook and future bb10 phones I find it weird devs not jumping on it ASAP!!! Especially with being able to make webwork apps. If your a web developer now is the time to make something awesome!!
    03-26-12 04:48 PM
  11. SCrid2000's Avatar
    Right.
    RIM said 13% of their devs made over 100k in a year. I'm far on the end of the 87%, but seriously, more than 1/10 BlackBerry devs are made at least a hundred grand...
    That, my friends, is not something to at.
    03-26-12 04:52 PM
  12. BB10Apps's Avatar
    Right.
    RIM said 13% of their devs made over 100k in a year. I'm far on the end of the 87%, but seriously, more than 1/10 BlackBerry devs are made at least a hundred grand...
    That, my friends, is not something to at.
    Are u a developer? I ask cause I would like to know what language you are using. I'm trying to teach my self JavaScript HTML5 and CSS3 I'm think of using phonegap and dream weaver. There is way to have dream weaver hook up to the iOS and android sdk I want to know how I can do that with the tablet os sd or if I can?
    03-26-12 05:12 PM
  13. SCrid2000's Avatar
    Potential competition? Err there's no $ in BlackBerry

    I mostly use webworks, I hand code everything in notepad++. I got adobe flex and I'm learning air, hoping to start releasing air apps and using the native sdk over the summer.
    03-26-12 05:16 PM
  14. BB10Apps's Avatar
    Why don't you use dream weaver? 5.5 it has some crazy things on it to develop faster.
    03-26-12 05:47 PM
  15. SCrid2000's Avatar
    Never tried dreamweaver, probably because I don't have $150 to throw towards an html editor when hand coding in notepad++ for free works just as well (if not better, albeit slower), and lets me learn a lot more
    Last edited by SCrid2000; 03-26-12 at 05:53 PM.
    soyamilk.soyamilk and donan71 like this.
    03-26-12 05:50 PM
  16. jtokarchuk's Avatar
    Notepad++4lyfe.
    KermEd likes this.
    03-26-12 07:12 PM
  17. anon(3896606)'s Avatar
    You might be exaggerating a bit there!
    The only reason BB devices are good development platforms (money wise), is because we have so little amounts of applications!
    03-26-12 07:25 PM
  18. KermEd's Avatar
    Millions aren't to be made my friend lol. You have to redo your math... With a bigger look at purchase odds.

    I'm lucky in that I have been in the upper sales figures compared to most people. But hitting 100k is nearly impossible (sustainably) without spending more than that on development costs.

    I would say: money can be made. But when you think only 1 in 10 users will ever buy an application, and only 15 percent or so have the same apps - that means as a high end sales figure you can expect 1.5 percent sales to all PB users.

    A few rare apps will break that. But those same apps hit 20x the figures on other platforms simply due to user base levels.

    Im not saying you cant make money, but dont use the PB as a get rich quick scheme. Invest your development time proportionately to the sales figures. The greatest app in the world matters very little if you spend 1000hrs making it and only generate 10,000 in cash as thats really only 10 bux an hour .

    Just balance appropriately. But a person could make a carer off of them. But it is a safer bet for someone to just work a normal high paying job and develop in the evenings.

    Ed

    Ed
    SCrid2000 likes this.
    03-26-12 07:55 PM
  19. BB10Apps's Avatar
    Millions aren't to be made my friend lol. You have to redo your math... With a bigger look at purchase odds.

    I'm lucky in that I have been in the upper sales figures compared to most people. But hitting 100k is nearly impossible (sustainably) without spending more than that on development costs.

    I would say: money can be made. But when you think only 1 in 10 users will ever buy an application, and only 15 percent or so have the same apps - that means as a high end sales figure you can expect 1.5 percent sales to all PB users.

    A few rare apps will break that. But those same apps hit 20x the figures on other platforms simply due to user base levels.

    Im not saying you cant make money, but dont use the PB as a get rich quick scheme. Invest your development time proportionately to the sales figures. The greatest app in the world matters very little if you spend 1000hrs making it and only generate 10,000 in cash as thats really only 10 bux an hour .

    Just balance appropriately. But a person could make a carer off of them. But it is a safer bet for someone to just work a normal high paying job and develop in the evenings.

    Ed

    Ed
    I think the potential to make money is better here cause there are hardly any apps. You just need to make an app that works but that also has good UI and your more likely to get noticed than in iOS. I completetly agree that you should never put all your eggs in one basket. That's why I'm still pursuing a career ( still in university :$) and at the same time trying to learn how to code. Even the code I'm trying learn is one that doesnt put all my eggs in one basket. JavaScript html5 and css3 easier to deploy on all the hardware out there . If all else fails I hear crime always pays
    03-26-12 09:52 PM
  20. BuzzStarField's Avatar
    ok maybe not millions, but it was a better title then a couple of bucks here and there.

    Thanks for the input.


    I will just keep spending my ten bucks or so a month, hope that helps someone.

    According to my calculations, if you buy my app for $1.00, I get to keep $0.70. From that amount, I have to pay income tax and expenses. If I just count on approximately 4,000,000 other kind PlayBook users like yourself, I might be able to net $1,000,000. Thank you for giving me hope.
    KermEd likes this.
    03-26-12 10:49 PM
  21. KermEd's Avatar
    I think the potential to make money is better here cause there are hardly any apps. You just need to make an app that works but that also has good UI and your more likely to get noticed than in iOS. I completetly agree that you should never put all your eggs in one basket. That's why I'm still pursuing a career ( still in university :$) and at the same time trying to learn how to code. Even the code I'm trying learn is one that doesnt put all my eggs in one basket. JavaScript html5 and css3 easier to deploy on all the hardware out there . If all else fails I hear crime always pays
    I have to say though, I LOVE the community here though. I expect to bring in about 1k/m for a popular app that is needed. And 250/m for a popular app that is wanted.

    It is sustainable income. If you really get good at development you can make a living on it - heck my apps bring in more each month than my first job now. But I wouldnt want to rely on it.

    I *may* get burned alive here for my next statement, but the PB isnt quite busy enough yet for me to consider it for a fulltime job. But thats because the amount of work it wouldtake to build, maintain and support an army of apps at my current pay through work would mean i would need to create and maintain 100 strong selling apps - which is tough at 72hrs (minimum) for development and 48hrs (minimum) for service packs through the life of the app.

    Im not saying it cant be done, but it wouldnt be sustainable for me. But, I build for the PlayBook because I find it easy, rewarding and the community great. I could work on iOS or Android (I have an iPad2 and Touchpad flashed Android) but I just love the PB too damn much ..

    But, I see where you are going, and a million dollars is plausible now --- which is a big change from 6 months ago.

    Also, Buzz, I love your space app. Bought it ages ago - worth every penny and you shluld charge more
    03-26-12 11:05 PM
  22. SCrid2000's Avatar
    I am gonna have to disagree with the few apps comments - App World is starting to get pretty filled up. It still doesn't have Netflix, Skype, and some other major players but there's a lot of apps and more every day.
    I think your chances of making a decent amount of pocket cash are still better on the Playbook than android or ios, but imo don't count on a limited market to be the case much longer.
    03-26-12 11:33 PM
  23. LoganSix's Avatar
    I'm sure that the talk of BlackBerry users spending more money is just rumour, silly stuff really, nobody could believe that. Sure, polls show they're in what are usually peak earning years, but BB phones don't really run apps, I mean not well or anything, and RIM's clearly getting no traction with the new OS so there's hardly any users to buy things anyway..
    You forgot to mention that the rumor that the BB10 phones will run the PlayBook apps is totally false and nobody should pretend to believe that you could possibly have 75 million potential customers after the phone release. It is just hog wash. Nothing to see here.

    And that push into China and India, forget about it. I mean, so what if it is 4 billion people, it's not like RIM could capture more than 10% of that market. What is that, like 200 million? Whatever, that's only 25% larger than the entire U.S. market that RIM isn't competitive in. RIM is dead.
    03-27-12 07:56 AM
  24. d_source's Avatar
    I'm a web developer and I have a few webworks apps on the PB. One I charge for. I'm making peanuts on it. Why do I do it? B/c it helps me learn an upcoming environment and put it into practice. Like this i stay ahead in my full time job. The fact that I make a few dollars a day is nice, but at the end of the day the money I've made I probably just broke even. The 70-30 split really suks when your not making large, and yes I will still have to pay taxes on it all. :S
    03-27-12 08:44 AM
  25. SCrid2000's Avatar
    I think you don't have to pay taxes if you make under $400 for the year (I'm not completely sure how that works).
    The 70-30 split is the same when you make more, I don't see where the amount you make impacts whether or not it sucks.
    03-27-12 09:58 AM
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