First-Day Mac App Store Sales Results: 'Chopper 2' Grosses Nearly $30,000
At the high end of the scale, we spoke with David Frampton of Majic Jungle Software, the developer responsible for Chopper 2, which currently ranks #2 on the "Top Paid" chart behind Angry Birds. Chopper 2 is currently priced at $0.99, 80% off of its planned stable pricing, in order to make a splash with the Mac App Store's debut.
Riding the momentum of discounted pricing and an established fan base from the original Chopper for Mac and successful Chopper and Chopper 2 games for iOS, Frampton tells us that Chopper 2 for Mac saw nearly 30,000 copies purchased through the Mac App Store yesterday. Accounting for Apple's 30% cut of Mac App Store revenue means that Majic Jungle Software brought in a little over $20,000 yesterday.
Chopper 2's performance is obviously not the norm for most developers, however, so we took a look at a few apps from other developers lower down on the charts, as documented in a thread in the Unity forums. Out of approximately 220 paid games currently available on the Mac App Store, here are some first day sales units and revenues, as well as ranks on Apple's "Top Grossing" list for games:
- 4x4 Offroad Racing ($3.99): 93 units sold for a total of $371, ranked #76
- Bubble Bang ($2.99): 17 units sold for a total of $51, ranked #150
- Light Quest ($9.99): 3 units sold for a total of $30, ranked #173
- Bubblez ($2.99): 7 units sold for a total of $21, unranked (not in top 180)
As we noted yesterday, we've been curious about whether the Mac App Store will experience a similar "race to the bottom" in pricing as seen on the iOS App Store. And in the store's second day of business, we're already seeing developers cut prices on some of these low-performing applications in an attempt to stimulate sales, as Chimp Studios reports that it has slashed the price of Light Quest from $9.99 to $4.99 in hopes of generating interest as the market begins to take shape.
In considering the performance of the Mac App Store, it is important to keep in mind that Apple maintains a Mac OS X installed base of about 50 million, with not all machines running Mac OS Snow Leopard and even many Snow Leopard users undoubtedly yet to install the Mac OS X 10.6.6 update required for Mac App Store compatibility. In contrast, Apple's iOS App Store is well-entrenched with a two-and-a-half year history and over 125 million devices sold.
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It's like that age-old lemonade stand game. Price it too high and you make a lot of money on individual sales but you get fewer individual sales. Price it too low and everyone wants it, but you don't make enough money to sustain it.
I'd say that 99 cents is a decent "try it and hey, if you don't like it, it was cheap" price for an iOS app.
Mac App pricing may be different, though, depending on whether or not a "free trial" version is available (through the App Store, or elsewhere). If I can't try it out first to see if I actually plan to keep it, then I wouldn't risk paying more than maybe $5-10. If a free trial is available so I can make sure I like the app before buying it, then the sky's the limit.
While on the one hand I understand the problem with the "race to the bottom", on the other hand, it can still end up having tremendous payoff. Look at Angry Birds (or insert any number of other success stories). 99 cents for the app, but look how many millions of copies it sold, because it was cheap, which lowered the barrier to entry, and it was well-made, so users were delighted with the purchase (and at how great a value it was!) and were only too happy to recommend it to others, to buy it sight-unseen based on the enthusiastic recommendations of others, to buy additional copies of the game for their iPads/Macs/Android, etc.
It's like that age-old lemonade stand game. Price it too high and you make a lot of money on individual sales but you get fewer individual sales. Price it too low and everyone wants it, but you don't make enough money to sustain it.
I'd say that 99 cents is a decent "try it and hey, if you don't like it, it was cheap" price for an iOS app.
Mac App pricing may be different, though, depending on whether or not a "free trial" version is available (through the App Store, or elsewhere). If I can't try it out first to see if I actually plan to keep it, then I wouldn't risk paying more than maybe $5-10. If a free trial is available so I can make sure I like the app before buying it, then the sky's the limit.
Angry Bird sells because it's Angry Bird... at this point they would still get sales at $9.99 :D Everyone knows about Angry Bird. BUT they wouldn't be where they are if they didn't start at a low price...
Angry Bird sells because it's Angry Bird... at this point they would still get sales at $9.99 :D Everyone knows about Angry Bird. BUT they wouldn't be where they are if they didn't start at a low price...
And that's my point. The cheap initial cost was what caused a lot of people to buy it, love it, tell their friends, and now everyone knows Angry Birds. Now that they've built mindshare, they absolutely can (and will) raise the prices, create new versions and level packs, in-game purchases, etc. And we will pay, happily.
Bottom line is that if your app is written well, appeals to a large audience, and people enjoy using it, having a low initial price point is not going to harm you.
That's why I bought it. :D
same here - and I haven't even tried it out yet - was more an impulse buy to have something when I have the time for it.
I bought Chopper 2 to try out the iPhone as remote feature.
Because it was a dollar
The cheaper it is, the more you'd make.
What the total mean of app prices drop in a few weeks.
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