Apple's iPhone-based AppStore is sure to debut sometime in the next month or two. My guess is that it will launch at WWDC, with select close partners at the launch and then a general opening to the rest of the third-party developers. I'd be quite surprised if AppStore launched and allowed immediate access to everyone who wanted to post an application for sale.
Follow the jump for more thoughts and questions.
Until now, iTunes software sales (for games that play on the 5G devices) have been limited to an extremely select few. The prices seem stuck at about $4.99 per title. The game play for these items has been pleasant but minimal. That's not a surprise given the limited capabilities of the classic iPod platform.
With AppStore expanding sales to the iPhone and iPod touch, how much will developers now charge for their wares? Are they going to stick at the .99/$1.99/4.99/9.99 levels that iTunes users have grown accustomed to? Or will we see $14.99 or even $19.99 prices?
Right now, looking at the jailbreak software market, I don't see people spending more than five or six dollars for the kind of software that's been released. And, yes, I know that pretty much all the jailbreak software is currently free. I mean if you had to pay for it.
Will there be a race to the bottom as developers try to undercut each other's prices? Or will quality drive certain titles to the front and sustain higher pricing? Phone-based homebrew software has been around for a long time but AppStore adds a new Apple-flavored twist to this equation.
So how much are you willing to pay for iPhone software? For Apollo, Twitterrific Touch or the NES emulator? Or for one of those spiffy new ports coming out of traditional gaming companies? Is the AppStore going to be just another source of free widgets or will there be a way for third party developers to entice you to buy? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
5-21-2008 @ 7:38PM
Dennis said...
In my opinion, if a developer wants to sell their product to "the masses" then they'll probably have to stick the under $5 market.
I would easily pay $20 for an app (business type) that makes my life easier.
As for Apollo, I'd pay $.99 for it, but probably not $5 because someone else will end up writing a good chat program thats cheaper.
NES emulators, well personally I'd never pay for it because I'm going to end up pirating the actual games anyways, so why pay for something that runs pirated content (media players, etc).
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5-21-2008 @ 7:39PM
Brian said...
I'm cheep so I will only pay free and .99 :)
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5-21-2008 @ 7:47PM
Andre said...
Depends on the app, but for the most part I probably won't be buying apps over $10.
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5-21-2008 @ 7:47PM
Ben said...
i will only pay for a slingplayer mobile version if its over 10$ (even 20$)
(considering its 25$ on most other mobile phones...)
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5-21-2008 @ 8:46PM
zachary miller said...
I agree, Slingplayer is the only app I would pay over 10 dollars for, partly becuase it's one I look so forward too.
5-21-2008 @ 7:47PM
Fred said...
I can guarantee you that emulators will not be approved for the App store. Apple wouldn't open themselves up for that kind of liability.
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5-22-2008 @ 4:48PM
starkruzr said...
They run interpreted code, that's a no-no.
Restrictions like this are the reason I will be waiting for jailbreak. I'm in no rush; I've already got almost everything I need, and the one application I use most and has proven to be absolutely fantastic will be forbidden under the new App Store — MobileTerminal.
5-21-2008 @ 7:47PM
Sam said...
$0 sounds like an awesome price to me.
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5-21-2008 @ 8:46PM
Ed said...
Seconded by a teen geek with no job.
5-21-2008 @ 9:14PM
applefan said...
Thirded by another geek with no job.
5-21-2008 @ 10:15PM
Ryan Trevisol said...
Fourth'd by the guy who remembers that there won't be a $100 up-front charge for freeware developers.
But thinking about it, I'd pay $1 for the NES emulator. Think about how many people would buy that at a buck. Tens of thousands. And for work that's virtually already done, that's not too shabby.
5-22-2008 @ 1:21AM
Cycomachead said...
+1 if I had an iPhone. But I might be willing to pay a bit because it's linked to iTunes. I have my money already there. No PayPal or credit cards and extra password. If it were a useful app I might drop a few bucks on it - but only if it had a trial too.
5-22-2008 @ 4:11AM
mattyohe said...
"Fourth'd by the guy who remembers that there won't be a $100 up-front charge for freeware developers."
Yeah there is. Are you crazy? Apple doesn't want a bunch of Hello World apps mucking up the place.
5-22-2008 @ 6:07PM
Fred said...
Again with the emulator talk. HELLO! The software you run on those emulators is copyrighted! Apple would be completely retarded to allow emulators that easily allow you to steal software. It's not like a full blown Mac computer where the software is not controlled. Apple has the keys to the kingdom and they aren't gonna risk losing their asses so you can play freakin' Zelda on your phone.
5-21-2008 @ 7:51PM
Caitlin said...
If it gets to cost that much, my concern would then be if there were demos.
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5-21-2008 @ 7:56PM
Perry said...
I'll pay $20 for a good game like Spore.
Gaming is probably the biggest genre for me. Phone, PIM and Solitaire are the top uses for me.
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5-21-2008 @ 10:37PM
Aron T said...
I'd definitely pay a premium for a game like Spore.
5-25-2008 @ 11:31AM
Spencer McManus said...
I'd pay $20 for Spore, too.
5-21-2008 @ 8:03PM
Yorgle said...
Personally, with the price set at $5 for complete games for the other iPods, I imagine it would be really hard to sell software for something much more than that.
For very niche apps, I could see higher prices... The kinds of apps that you wouldn't sell many of anyway.
But the other end is where it gets interesting. For $1, you can get a lot of people with a passing interest or curiosity for the app to buy it... and if they don't like it, it's not much of a loss. I'm sure I'll probably drop $20+ on $1 apps in the store.
I highly doubt I'd spend anything $10 or more on any single app unless it's really good and I've tried out a demo.
You drop down to 'free' and suddenly the apps have no perceived value. I'm not sure if you'd get more or less people trying it out, but you'd certainly get more people without interest in it downloading it. And of course, the software producer can get more name recognition.
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5-21-2008 @ 8:05PM
Jacob Eiting said...
What about ad supported applications? This would be a neat opportunity for location based advertising.
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