[kevinm157]

I read a lot of threads on here moaning that kindle, words with friends....and many more apps are not avaialable. So what can we do with Crackberry's help(please Kevin).

There is a real move in the UK to group buying. 100000 plus people have grouped together to approach, through one company, the energy supplier to get the best deal.

So I'm thinking how can we help RIM get the right developers / companies to launch their apps on the playbook. This is where we need Crackberry's help and support.

We run a poll to find the top three apps we would like to see on the playbook, once we have the top three by numbers

[kevinm157]

sorry guys posted before I had finished!! rest to follow

[Thunderbuck]

Hmmmm... I might be tempted to buy into that idea, for a few key apps...

[kevinm157]

once we have the top three we approach the developers and see what numbers would convince them to offer the app and at what cost. Maybe a discount for higher numbers. We then sign up to buy the app if it comes available, see if we can hit the target numbers. If we do, we potentially get what we want if not we stop whinging...

[CrackBerry Kevin]

Here's the deal... and maybe I'll do up a bigger editorial on this later to bring more light to it... Think of it as "App Ransom".

Look, RIM knows what apps we want on the platform. They have a content acquisition team, led by Marty Mallick, that is going out there to get apps onto the platform in the case where the companies are not just bring them over themselves.

The problem with PlayBook/BlackBerry 10 is that there's no real "volume" yet, which puts the bargaining power in the hands of the app companies. It's the same story on Windows Phone. These companies KNOW RIM/Microsoft/Nokia want their apps on their platforms, so they hold out for what I call App Ransom to get them on.

Angry Birds could have been on the BlackBerry PlayBook months and months and months ago. Bringing it over to PlayBook wasn't an issue of work. It was an issue of negotiating how much $$ RIM would have to fork over to Rovio. Once the deal is done, it gets on the platform quick.

Skype. This is another one that's probably more of a $$ thing than anything else. Guaranteed there's a magic number Skype is holding out for. $5 milliion? $10 million? I wouldn't doubt if it's more like $15 million. With these kinds of $$ up for grabs, these deals take time. RIM could eat through a LOT of cash quick forking out this kind of dollars to everybody who wants app ransom, so there's lots of negotiation back and forth.

The good news is that once you get some of these heavy hitters on the platform, then the competition starts to follow for free. Look at games on PlayBook. Once EA got on the platform, a lot more game titles started following. Those companies couldn't let EA have all the fun and glory.

RIM knows that when BB10 phones launch that they have to have all the heavy hitters on the platform. If they leave any glaring gaps, it's going to be a problem. So I'm sure a lot of these deals will get done, and we'll see them come onboard over the months ahead leading up to that launch. At what cost I don't know, but it'll happen.

As for what we can do.... well we can continue to show these companies that there is demand for the product. But I don't know if that'll help them move faster onto the platform or just want to hold out for more app ransom money.

As for the idea in this thread.. group together to get some apps on... well... keep the ideas flowing. Maybe there's something to this.

[kevinm157]

Thanks Kevin all good points. I understand 'app ransom' and the position that puts RIM in.. But I would be interested in the top three apps wanted by the users, the total numbers that would commit and whether this would strengthen RIMs position.

Well done RIM on the launch and as always great coverage from Crackberry.

[cjterminator]

On a separate note, @kevinm157 are you huge fan of Kevin Michaluk or its coincidence that your id sounds similar?

[kevinm157]

lol.. we have the same initials but different surnames. Can't think of to many people having the surname Michaluk in the UK

[emtunc]

Angry Birds could have been on the BlackBerry PlayBook months and months and months ago. Bringing it over to PlayBook wasn't an issue of work. It was an issue of negotiating how much $$ RIM would have to fork over to Rovio. Once the deal is done, it gets on the platform quick.

Skype. This is another one that's probably more of a $$ thing than anything else. Guaranteed there's a magic number Skype is holding out for. $5 milliion? $10 million? I wouldn't doubt if it's more like $15 million. With these kinds of $$ up for grabs, these deals take time. RIM could eat through a LOT of cash quick forking out this kind of dollars to everybody who wants app ransom, so there's lots of negotiation back and forth.

As long as RIM is actually on the front line holding workshops and negotiating with 3rd parties for their apps to be developed for the BB10 platform then all is good.

The worst possible situation I think would be for RIM to be doing nothing with 3rd parties and simply 'hoping' their apps will make it to the platform without actually engaging.

The vendors who exploit the situation and elongate the entire app development process just to make a quick buck are real asses... that's for sure.

[CrackBerry Kevin]

They're definitely on the front lines negotiating.. they have a content acquisition team, they have a budget... they know what they need to do. And they know how critical the timing is for BB10 launch.

[bounce007]

kevinm157 your idea sounds plausible and sounds like it has potential but when we arrive at a number of people that 'commit' to buy the apps, how do we guarantee that they honour their commitment?

[bounce007]

The vendors who exploit the situation and elongate the entire app development process just to make a quick buck are real asses... that's for sure.

That's capitalism for you... and business is business; in our society we want to make money (and who wouldn't mind making millions of it legally if they could?). I wouldn't go as far as calling them asses. Business is business.

[kevinm157]

Bounce007 first we find the total numbers who would potentially buy in, then approach the developers to see if they would be interested. If yes, they could run a promotion where we log on and legally commit to buy. Providing we hit the negotiated target they deliver the application. Alternatively rim could run the auction. Either way I would be happy to commit if it got me the alps I'm looking for.

[kevinm157]

'apps'....

[Tre Lawrence]

Here's the deal... and maybe I'll do up a bigger editorial on this later to bring more light to it... Think of it as "App Ransom".

Look, RIM knows what apps we want on the platform. They have a content acquisition team, led by Marty Mallick, that is going out there to get apps onto the platform in the case where the companies are not just bring them over themselves.

The problem with PlayBook/BlackBerry 10 is that there's no real "volume" yet, which puts the bargaining power in the hands of the app companies. It's the same story on Windows Phone. These companies KNOW RIM/Microsoft/Nokia want their apps on their platforms, so they hold out for what I call App Ransom to get them on.

Angry Birds could have been on the BlackBerry PlayBook months and months and months ago. Bringing it over to PlayBook wasn't an issue of work. It was an issue of negotiating how much $$ RIM would have to fork over to Rovio. Once the deal is done, it gets on the platform quick.

Skype. This is another one that's probably more of a $$ thing than anything else. Guaranteed there's a magic number Skype is holding out for. $5 milliion? $10 million? I wouldn't doubt if it's more like $15 million. With these kinds of $$ up for grabs, these deals take time. RIM could eat through a LOT of cash quick forking out this kind of dollars to everybody who wants app ransom, so there's lots of negotiation back and forth.

The good news is that once you get some of these heavy hitters on the platform, then the competition starts to follow for free. Look at games on PlayBook. Once EA got on the platform, a lot more game titles started following. Those companies couldn't let EA have all the fun and glory.

RIM knows that when BB10 phones launch that they have to have all the heavy hitters on the platform. If they leave any glaring gaps, it's going to be a problem. So I'm sure a lot of these deals will get done, and we'll see them come onboard over the months ahead leading up to that launch. At what cost I don't know, but it'll happen.

As for what we can do.... well we can continue to show these companies that there is demand for the product. But I don't know if that'll help them move faster onto the platform or just want to hold out for more app ransom money.

As for the idea in this thread.. group together to get some apps on... well... keep the ideas flowing. Maybe there's something to this.

I'd heard of app ransoms, but I didn't think the amounts got that high. Makes sense, though. Wow.

Tough place for RIM.