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RIM promises $10k to devs if BlackBerry 10 app earns $1k

devblog.blackberry.com

31–40 of 46 posts

Re: RIM promises $10k to devs if BlackBerry 10 app earns $1k

#32
post #26
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably, the ability to make more than $11,000.

Actually, it looks like RIM is offering to pay the difference between what your app earns and $10,000. So if you earn $4,000, they'd pay you $6,000. So if your app is not going to go past $10,000, there's literally no incentive to promote it beyond $1,000 (except the enjoyment of knowing so many people are using your app). It's not clear what the cutoff date is, although presumably it's the Blackberry 10 launch. So t…

Keep in mind these numbers are over a 12 month period. And according to the fine print, it's a 12 month period of RIM's choosing. If you only sell $1,000 worth over the course of the first 12 months after the launch of BB10, and RIM decides to hold out for another month, and you sell $6,000 worth in month 13, they might just cut you a check for $3,000 or decide to wait another month and see how you do.

IMO, It's not free money though I think it's meant to sound like free money.

Re: RIM promises $10k to devs if BlackBerry 10 app earns $1k

#33
post #30
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because free apps can't earn $1K, there is no additional incentive to port free apps as they'd never receive this $10K prize.

I skimmed the article, but it sounds like free apps that make money through in-app purchases are still eligible.

You are correct. I do not, however, consider an app whose primary functionality is only available via IAP to be a free app.

Re: RIM promises $10k to devs if BlackBerry 10 app earns $1k

#37
post #12

RIM must be very confident that nobody will earn more than $1000 from a BlackBerry app in order to make an offer like this. Either that or they are just trying to pump up their stock price for the BlackBerry 10 launch so that the executives can dump their stock before the company goes bankrupt.

I think people are misunderstanding what RIM is doing here. To be frank, RIM's promotion of this isn't doing them favours here either.

The $10k revenue guarantee is a hedge. They're betting that if you make an app that satisfies their Built for BlackBerry criteria (see: https://developer.blackberry.com/builtforblackberry/document...), it's good enough to sell 100 copies, and make at least $1k in revenue, then it's good enough to make $10k in revenue.

They're hoping that your app will be so awesome that they won't have to pay you anything. Bear in mind, this guarantee is over a 12-month period, so there's plenty of time to make that $10k on your own. Furthermore, by being Built for BlackBerry, you get special exposure in the App World storefront.

Personally, I think it's a fantastic idea, and I'm definitely going to be submitting an app or two. But I think a lot of people are taking it as "RIM is paying devs $10k to make an app." That simply isn't true. They're making you work for it, and then saying, "If after all of this work, you still don't make $10k, we'll front you the rest."

So the incentive to promote your app past $1,000 in revenue is that if you're putting in this much work, you should really try to maximize your return.

Re: RIM promises $10k to devs if BlackBerry 10 app earns $1k

#38
post #15

Is there anything new to this program? It sounds the same as the one announced in May ... http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2012/05/02/rimm-pro...

Today was the official announcement of the details, guidelines, and dates. No difference, just that it's more solid now.

Re: RIM promises $10k to devs if BlackBerry 10 app earns $1k

#39
post #5

Well this will totally get cut the rope ported... oh wait... it's free... along with most of my favourite apps....

Cut the rope has been on playbook since the beginning of the year.

And if they incorporated in-app purchases or in-app advertising, they'd be eligible for this.

Re: RIM promises $10k to devs if BlackBerry 10 app earns $1k

#40
post #21
post #12

RIM must be very confident that nobody will earn more than $1000 from a BlackBerry app in order to make an offer like this. Either that or they are just trying to pump up their stock price for the BlackBerry 10 launch so that the executives can dump their stock before the company goes bankrupt.

Actually, this sounds like a good idea to me. The BB ecosystem, broadly, has the system architecture to compete with Android and iOS but it lacks the app availability to make it attractive to customers. Apps have a long tail: there are a small number of hits (Angry Birds, say -- or things like the Facebook app) which have the cash available to develop on multiple architecture already. These will get an extra $10k, wh…

The "Angry Birds" don't even get an extra 10k - if your app makes more than 10k you don't get the payout. I think this is an easy win for RIM for sure.
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