41–50 of 95 posts
I just got an iPad and started using the App store for the first time in my life and guess what? Out of the 5 things I wanted to use the pad for, 3 of them didn't exist at all. There is plenty of space in this market I would say. Just not for iFart anymore.
I don't know how you would split out Brand apps vs hobbyist vs junk apps, but he should have mentioned that. I'd be surprised if there are more than 10K Brand apps like the ones he appears to be most familiar with.
It seems like the expectations are very high for the App Store, so perhaps this article is just a reaction against hype. But, don't we say that only one in ten start-ups makes it? So, as a baseline, why expect more than one in ten apps on the App Store to be profitable?
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He has data that indicates 73% of total apps on the store are paid. He then bases his remaining calculations on that paid app number.
Yeah, but he doesn't take into account the fact that 73% of apps do not get 73% of the downloads.
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Why would an app take $1500 to develop? I wrote 4. They took less than $1500 total.
What is your time worth? I'd assume that each app took several hours to write?
iPhone vs. WAP is a poor comparison because an iPhone app and a WAP site are two different digital tactics that address completely different objectives.
Brands are not buying iPhone apps to get the same utility that is available from a WAP site. They are buying them to make their brands appear technically savvy, and to increase engagement.
Can anyone justify an investment in development of an iPad-only productivity software? Do you think a startup can raise capital based on such economics?
My takeaway: Selling AppStore apps/ads isn't THE business model. It should be one of the channels amongst others.
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None of this refutes his point, which is that developing for iphone is a suboptimal use of marketing/advertising dollars. Even if you'd assume his numbers had a 100% error margin, you still couldn't get iphone apps to work.
Just assuming he's only off by 100% is silly. There are lots of ways he could be off by a factor of 5 or 10.
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Just assuming he's only off by 100% is silly. There are lots of ways he could be off by a factor of 5 or 10.
Well instead of pulling numbers of thin air, how about you provide some rationalization for your 'factor 5 or 10' statements? The post came with lots of details on data sources, how assumptions/estimations were made, the relative effect of error margins etc. Saying 'there are lots of ways he could be off' is meaningless against a rationally founded argument like was made in the post.