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MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

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Re: MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

#41

Post by usaar333 »

naner wrote: post #34
uptown wrote: post #3

The iOS MLB app (especially the iPad variety) is probably my favorite. The Android MLB app is probably my least favorite. It's just ugly ... only does a fraction of what the iOS app does, and provides very little beyond what you can get for free from any number of other sports or baseball apps. People will pay for quality. Right now, the Android app isn't anywhere near what I'd consider a quality app.

Is this MLB.com's fault, limitations of Android, or both?

What limitations would there be on Android, relative to to iOS? I can just think of in-app purchases.

Re: MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

#42

Post by nookiemonster »

amitraman1 wrote: post #6

This applies to apps too. Here my simple logic. Android phones are available for free from carriers. Thus, the typical Android buy is more price sensitive. They are more likely to choose free content & apps. iPhone customers don't get FREE iPhones. They are willing to pay $200+ for a phone and contract. Their willingness to pay for apps & content is higher than Android users. Just look at Angry Birds. It's FREE on th…

"Android phones are available for free from carriers."

I can't find a way to interpret this statement and have it be true.

There is no fee to use the o.s. The devices cost the carriers a great deal. They purchase them in bulk from the oems and then sell them to customers. The cost is then recovered over the life of the contract.

This is why it's hard to know exactly how many windows phones are active in the ecosystem. The only public data is the bulk sales to carriers by oems.

Wrt your other points, I don't have any nits to pick. :)

Re: MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

#43

Post by chc »

jrockway wrote: post #36
chc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I've missed it, but has Amazon actually released any sales numbers from its store? So far, it seems to me like little more than a curiosity. The difficulty of installation alone will rule out most customers.

Isn't that true of anything? "Why would people trust Amazon to run their data center?" "Why would people wait for books to be shipped when they could just go to the bookstore?" Fact is, everything new and different is new and different at first. But that fades away quite quickly.

Sorry, I think the way I backed into my point has confused you. I'm not saying, "Amazon's store is new and different. Why would people use it?" What I mean to say is: "I don't have any reason to believe many people are currently using Amazon's store. It seems unlikely. Since (as far as we can tell) this store is currently not successful, and its lack of success is quite possibly due to factors other than price, its pricing doesn't reveal much about what people are willing to pay." And that is not true of everything.

Re: MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

#44

Post by WarDekar »

uptown wrote: post #3

The iOS MLB app (especially the iPad variety) is probably my favorite. The Android MLB app is probably my least favorite. It's just ugly ... only does a fraction of what the iOS app does, and provides very little beyond what you can get for free from any number of other sports or baseball apps. People will pay for quality. Right now, the Android app isn't anywhere near what I'd consider a quality app.

While I enjoyed last year's app, I'm a little irked by the fact they require iOS 4 this year. I'm still using a 3G and don't really want to upgrade to iOS 4. I understand that sometimes there are reasons they want to put features in an app that requires a more recent OS version, but I don't really see what features those would be with the update for this season.

Also there have been a lot of complaints it seems on iTunes about this year's version for various reasons. Some of them unwarranted, no doubt, but last year the ratings were quite high for a $15 app.

Re: MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

#45

Post by mgcross »

amitraman1 wrote: post #6

This applies to apps too. Here my simple logic. Android phones are available for free from carriers. Thus, the typical Android buy is more price sensitive. They are more likely to choose free content & apps. iPhone customers don't get FREE iPhones. They are willing to pay $200+ for a phone and contract. Their willingness to pay for apps & content is higher than Android users. Just look at Angry Birds. It's FREE on th…

While there are some 'free' (subsidized over two years) android phones available, most of those are low-performance devices more akin to feature phones. Those purchasers may indeed be less likely to buy apps due to spending habits. But there are plenty of Android phones above $200, even on contract. And a 3GS can now be had for $49.

I think it's also that Android users tend to use their phones more as solely communications devices (FB, Twitter, news, email) and less as an 'app console' device, for lack of a better description.

Re: MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

#46

Post by j79 »

emehrkay wrote: post #40
j79 wrote: post #13

My dad, who is far from being technically-savvy, owns an iPhone (a Christmas gift from my brother and I to our parents.) He wasn't a fan of the phone at first. Too complicated, too hard to make calls, etc. However, something amazing (considering my dad's, uh, "technological capabilities"...) happened a few weeks ago. He calls me up and asks about his "iTunes password" and whether he had ever set that up. I told him,…

Shazam has a five song limit? I'm never upgrading. When did they do that?

I know they've had a five song limit since the iPhone 4 came out. I had the original version, which had unlimited tagging, but when I upgraded to the iPhone 4, I had to re-download the same Shazam app I had installed on my 3G. The same version, the one they said would have unlimited tagging, implemented the 5 song restriction.

There was an outcry from iPhone 3g/3gs users who were forced to upgrade and hit with this limit right around the iPhone 4 launch.

Re: MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

#47

Post by nomad2986 »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #31

MLB.tv is the only subscription service (that I'm aware of) that charges for the app as well. And they do it inconsistently. I paid I think $120-$130, somewhere in that range, for MLB.tv, however I need to pay an additional $15 to get it on my Android phone and an additional $15 to get it on my iPad. However on Roku I pay no additional cost for the app, and on the web I pay no additional cost. I bought the iPad app b…

This is exactly my issue with the At Bat app. I already pay for MLB.tv which plays video in Flash and I have a flash capable Android phone. I don't understand why I should have to pay extra for the app just to watch video. However, last time I checked I was blocked from watching content on my phone.

Re: MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

#48

Post by macrael »

usaar333 wrote: post #41
naner wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this MLB.com's fault, limitations of Android, or both?

What limitations would there be on Android, relative to to iOS? I can just think of in-app purchases.

While perhaps limitation is a strong word, it is clear that the development environments/tools/api's for the two platforms are very different. Is it not possible that one is simply better suited to producing high quality apps than the other?

Re: MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

#49

Post by naner »

usaar333 wrote: post #41
naner wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this MLB.com's fault, limitations of Android, or both?

What limitations would there be on Android, relative to to iOS? I can just think of in-app purchases.

Built in content protection for streaming video? I don't know, that's why I asked. I have no experience with the MLB app and limited experience with both iOS and Android.

Re: MLB.com CEO: iOS users more likely to purchase content than Android users

#50

Post by eddieplan9 »

usaar333 wrote: post #41
naner wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this MLB.com's fault, limitations of Android, or both?

What limitations would there be on Android, relative to to iOS? I can just think of in-app purchases.

The quality of bundled apps. Application developers will be influenced by them because they see them before they write the first line of code, use them most likely everyday and are inclined to mimic the user experience. iOS bundled apps are all very decent and are the source of inspiration for most apps in the App Store and the emphasis on user experience across the whole ecosystem. I cannot remember anybody praising stock Andriod apps beyond the GMail client. The (other) built-in email client basically ruins any belief in that Google plays the UX game as half well as Apple.
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