App Store Developers Debate Pricing and Marketing

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Or as I call it, why we see so many garbage apps.

With 10,000 applications and 300 million downloads in less than four months, Apple’s iPhone may be the most successful software platform since the IBM personal computer.

But that doesn’t mean all is well in the App Store.

In fact, the business model that nurtured its success now threatens to choke off the programming talent that sustained it...

The sticking point, as Hockenberry sees it, is that spike by Edible Apple’s graph: the proliferation of 99-cent applications — what he dubs “ringtone apps” — as developers reduce their prices to the lowest possible level in order to get favorable placement in iTunes.

“We have a lot of great ideas for iPhone applications,” Hockenberry writes. “Unfortunately, we’re not working on the cooler (and more complex) ideas. Instead, we’re working on 99¢ titles that have a limited lifespan and broad appeal. Market conditions make ringtone apps most appealing.”...


What should Apple (AAPL) do about the ringtone problem? Hockenberry doesn’t offer Jobs a solution. (”You and your team are perfectly capable of dealing with it on your own terms,” he says.) But he warns that pricing issues are choking off innovation and could prevent development of an app that could do for the iPhone what the spreadsheet did for the Apple II or desktop publishing did for the Mac.

That's just it, many people do not want to spend money on apps and $.99 cents appears to be their sweet spot. Look at these boards. Many people are younger and they're struggling just to buy the phone let alone pay for the service. Then on top of that they want the apps but they don't want to pay. Those who jailbreak are ok, those who do not will pay $.99 here and there.

Those "business users" or those people who genuinely need an application will pay. I did not pay $6.99 for AirShare, but I would in a heartbeat as it fills a slight gap that Apple left me with when I bought the iPhone.

Why do we see so much junk in the app store? Quite frankly it has everything to do with the model they're using to approve apps, just as the article states/implies.

There is also another issue that either wasn't brought up or I missed. That is developers releasing an app for free then turning it to a fee-based app. Or, they release it for say $9.99, drop it down to $2.99 as a "sale", then back up again. People wonder how the hell the $9.99 app made it to the top, but that is how. People are more prone to waste $.99 cents or a couple more bucks at that, somehow wasting $10 hits people a bit harder.

I think there are a lot of developers who will not develop for a 99 cent platform. Someone out there has the next Better Than Sliced Bread application idea but won't build it because they know they can't sell it for the 5 or 10 or 20 bucks needed to build and support it.

And this is the reason I'm going towards contract work instead of developing my own apps. If your app is not $0.99 you get bad reviews on how it should be free or cheap, and there is always someone out there willing to copy your app idea, make it cheap and undercut you. Unlike blackberry and Windows Mobile users iPhone users are not willing to pay for quality software.

With that said, there are not that many quality apps on the store either...people are just trying to make a quick buck so they "bust" out a crappy app in a week or too and post it on the store.

I doubt I will release anything on the store under $4.99 now, it's not worth my time to create useless apps.

I've noticed this problem too, and honestly, the only way I see it improving is Apple changing their approval process. Maybe start looking at the actual usefulness of the app rather than just the code? I realise this is stepping on dangerous territory but it could stop the people that make "how long until..." apps. Maybe if an app wasn't deemed worthy they could still have it in the app store for free? That would mean that if people just enjoy making apps then they could still have them included and distributed. I know it's not perfect, but it seems better than the present situation.

One man's trash is another man's treasure. :)

I don't see a problem. The 99 cent apps are fine.

More expensive good apps are being added as well. Good apps can get a referral from web sites and other means.

Both have their place.

As more utility and the adoption rate by corporate customers increase you will see the bell curve expand more to the 1.00 - 49.99 apps, but the bulk will always be free or $0.99

There are already some very innovative apps on the app store that seem to at least be somewhat successful, even with more expensive prices.

Make software people want to use, price it and market it accordingly, and you will be successful.

I think the number of apps to date speaks for itself. This distribution channel and way of doing business for developers and Apple will continue to grow at a rapid pace in the near to medium term.