• Flight Control Sales Numbers

  When we launched Flight Control on 6 March 2009, we made a committment to share our sales numbers with the game development community. At the time we had no idea that Flight Control would reach the #1 paid app position in so many different countries, and just how interesting these numbers would be! We've decided to go into more detail than we originally envisioned, and have put together a report detailing Flight Control sales between 24 March and 25 April 2009. This covers the period for which Flight Control held the #1 position in the USA.

  Included in the 16 page report:

  • Sales during the report period: 587,485
  • Sales to date (6 March to 27 April): over 700,000
  • Graph of global sales per day
  • Total sales per country (57% of sales in USA)
  • Peak sales days (over 35,000 sold on best day) and sales trends over time
  • Highest daily sales per country (19,164 in the USA)
  • Chart performance: sales per day per country at #1
  • Appendix with 8 pages of raw sales data: units per day per country

  Download the report here:
  firemint.com/files/FlightControl-SalesNumbers.pdf

  We hope that this information is useful to you. For interviews or media enquiries, please contact media@firemint.com.

• Flight Control Sales Numbers

  When we launched Flight Control on 6 March 2009, we made a committment to share our sales numbers with the game development community. At the time we had no idea that Flight Control would reach the #1 paid app position in so many different countries, and just how interesting these numbers would be! We've decided to go into more detail than we originally envisioned, and have put together a report detailing Flight Control sales between 24 March and 25 April 2009. This covers the period for which Flight Control held the #1 position in the USA.

  Included in the 16 page report:

  • Sales during the report period: 587,485
  • Sales to date (6 March to 27 April): over 700,000
  • Graph of global sales per day
  • Total sales per country (57% of sales in USA)
  • Peak sales days (over 35,000 sold on best day) and sales trends over time
  • Highest daily sales per country (19,164 in the USA)
  • Chart performance: sales per day per country at #1
  • Appendix with 8 pages of raw sales data: units per day per country

  Download the report here:
  firemint.com/files/FlightControl-SalesNumbers.pdf

  We hope that this information is useful to you. For interviews or media enquiries, please contact media@firemint.com.

• <div></div> <div> <h3><a rel="nofollow" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Late to the iPhone, Trip Hawkins’ Digital Chocolate falls in love with it" href="http://venturebeat.com/2009/04/14/late-to-the-iphone-trip-hawkins-digital-chocolate-falls-in-love-with-it/">Late to the iPhone, Trip Hawkins’ Digital Chocolate falls in love with it</a></h3> <div> <span><a rel="nofollow" title="Posts by Dean Takahashi" href="http://venturebeat.com/author/dean-takahashi/">Dean Takahashi</a></span> | <span>April 14th, 2009</span> </div> </div> <div> <p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/trip-1.jpg"><img src="http://www.google.com/base_media?hl=en&amp;fact=12e&amp;size=3&amp;q=http%3A%2F%2Fventurebeat.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F04%2Ftrip-1.jpg&amp;dhm=bac95e7c" alt="" title="trip-1" style="float:right;width:245px;height:190px"></a><i>We’ve written about how new <a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/2009/04/11/iphone-devotion-blinds-silicon-valley-app-developers/">developers are enamored with the iPhone</a>. But Trip Hawkins (founder of <a rel="nofollow" href="http://info.ea.com">Electronic Arts</a>) admits that his mobile game company, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.digitalchocolate.com/">Digital Chocolate</a>, was late to the iPhone. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company has 350 employees making games for all sorts of cell phones, but the iPhone’s popularity caught it by surprise. Now Hawkins has come back with a vengeance. His company has launched five iPhone games since December and four of them have hit No. 1. That’s no easy feat, considering there are 7,931 games on the iPhone, according to <a rel="nofollow" href="http://mobclix.com/appstore/1">Mobclix</a>. We talked with Hawkins about it at Digital Chocolate. </i></p><p><b>VB: How do you feel about the iPhone?</b></p><p><b>TH: </b>The iPhone for us was a spectacularly pleasant surprise. We had no idea it was going to be as good for us as it turned out to be….The first two [games] were <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.apptism.com/apps/chocolate-shop-frenzy">Chocolate Shop Frenzy</a> (right) and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.apptism.com/apps/chocolate-shop-frenzy">Crazy Penguin Catapult</a> (below). They were successful on other platforms. The next two were Tower Blocks and Brick Breaker Revolution. There are 35,000 apps [competing on the iPhone]. Thousands are free. To get to No. 1, it’s pretty rare. There is a rotation where something stays at No. 1 for a week or two. The odds are very low. If there are maybe 25 products that have hit No. 1, then your odds are one in a thousand. Penguin was No. 1 through Christmas. Tower Blocks was No. 1 in February. Brick Breaker Revolution made it to No. 1 in April. That’s a mathematical freak. We have now released a fifth game, and a couple of more are coming. The first four games, in less than 100 days, hit 10 million downloads. Our record is like <a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/2008/10/28/playfish-raises-17-million-for-facebook-games/">Playfish’s on Facebook games</a>. Our reviews are great as well.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/crazy_penguin_01.jpg"><img src="http://www.google.com/base_media?hl=en&amp;fact=12e&amp;size=3&amp;q=http%3A%2F%2Fventurebeat.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F04%2Fcrazy_penguin_01.jpg&amp;dhm=87378e6d" alt="" title="crazy_penguin_01" style="float:right;width:245px;height:163px"></a><b>VB: How is revenue?</b></p><p><b>TH: </b>One of the things we do is calculate revenue of the top players by doing correlations with the revenues on our own titles that are in the top ranks. You look at the rankings, the units sold, and the likely revenues associated with them. With that, you can create the top revenue 100 list. All five of our games are in the top 100 for revenue. Four of our games are in the top 100 by unit volume even though the prices for them are $3 each or more. If you weed out the really cheap products at 99 cents or free, then you find there are only three companies that can command a price of $3 or more and to rank high enough in the top 100 units sold.</p><p><b>VB: How do your iPhone games fit within the larger strategy?</b></p><p><b>TH: </b>It’s by far our most effective platform. We make as much money with these games on one device as we do putting a game on 100 different cell phone platforms. Between the iPod Touch and the iPhone, I think the platform is freaking out Sony and Nintendo. Apple has sold 30 million units so far and it has created tremendous awareness. It has taken ground all over the world. But it has only penetrated one half of one percent of its total market.</p><p><b>VB: What do you think of all the other mobile app stores coming on other platforms? </b></p><p><b>TH:</b> It’s just like with the Mac and the PC. The clones are coming. Device makers, chip companies, software companies and others are getting into the act. We may experiment with putting games on those new app stores, but the urgency now is to put games on the iPhone. One of Apple’s really big advantages is iTunes. They’ve spent years building up those iTunes accounts and it’s much easier for the money to flow.</p><p>One question facing Apple is whether it should remain tethered to the PC or the Mac. You can’t use an iPhone unless you download things via the computer. If you want to upgrade your system software, you have to do that on the computer. That’s a major reason why they don’t do well in Japan, where they don’t care about the computer. A large percentage of the world market won’t ever have a computer. Apple needs a plan for that. Another big question: Apple refused to license the Mac in its early years and ultimately lived to regret it. Will Apple license the iPhone to others now? <span></span></p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/trip-31.jpg"><img src="http://www.google.com/base_media?hl=en&amp;fact=12e&amp;size=3&amp;q=http%3A%2F%2Fventurebeat.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F04%2Ftrip-31.jpg&amp;dhm=c5b1ad44" alt="" title="trip-31" style="float:right;width:245px;height:222px"></a></p><p><b>VB: Research In Motion has launched its BlackBerry app store. What kind of opportunity is that?</b></p><p>It’s not so hard to dump an entire library of games on another platform that supports Java. Everybody else is a couple of years behind Apple. The genius of the iPhone is the multi-touch display, which lets you not only touch but swoosh your finger across the screen. No one has duplicated it yet.</p><p><b>VB: What store is worth dumping your whole library on? What store is worth some investment in terms of creating unique games for it?</b></p><p><b>TH: </b>That’s a daunting question. We notice that brands don’t do that well on the iPhone, nor do generic games like poker or bowling. A lot of brands aren’t going to cut it. I’d expect that original titles that are built for the platform will become the new brands on the iPhone. It’s like the birth of the web. People thought Disney and NBC would dominate the web. That didn’t turn out to be true. It’s a new medium dominated by new brands.</p><p><b>VB: What was unique about your iPhone games?</b></p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/trip-2.jpg"><img src="http://www.google.com/base_media?hl=en&amp;fact=12e&amp;size=3&amp;q=http%3A%2F%2Fventurebeat.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F04%2Ftrip-2.jpg&amp;dhm=ce324152" alt="" title="trip-2" style="float:right;width:245px;height:200px"></a><b>TH: </b>We worked on a memory management technology that made the games work better. Our games were from our back catalog of previously published titles. They were tailored for the iPhone. We had to design it for one-button play and a swiping/touch or tilting mechanic. The platform can finally keep up with the things that you want to do. It reminds me of the Sega Genesis, when EA finally had a platform that could keep up with the games we wanted to make.</p><p><b>VB: Why are gamers playing more on the iPhone?</b></p><p><b>TH: </b>The hardcore gamer plays to win a game. The omni gamer, who consumes media on all platforms, is playing to make social connections. They’re playing because it’s fashionable and cool and it’s fun to show your friends what you’re doing. There is no way you can have multiple top hits on the iPhone unless you have viral spreading going on. Your products have to be conversation starters. A lot of downloads that happen do so because a friend recommended it. You’re not going to tell your friends about a game unless it’s original and high quality.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/tower-bloxx-iphone.jpg"><img src="http://www.google.com/base_media?hl=en&amp;fact=12e&amp;size=3&amp;q=http%3A%2F%2Fventurebeat.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F04%2Ftower-bloxx-iphone.jpg&amp;dhm=c0b9c9d0" alt="" title="tower-bloxx-iphone" style="float:right;width:245px;height:368px"></a><b>VB: Do you publish your top sellers only on the iPhone?</b></p><p><b>TH:</b> No. The first ones that published were the ones that finished first. None of them were monster hits on other platforms. One exception: Tower Bloxx was a big hit on the web and on Facebook. The challenge on the iPhone was that it had to get discovered. We did a version that took advantage of the tilting feature.</p><p><b>VB: What do you like about <a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/2009/03/17/iphone-os-30-roundup-push-notification-cut-and-paste-and-more/">the iPhone 3.0 software </a>update coming?</b></p><p><b>TH:</b> It’s very exciting. They are adding additional billing models like virtual goods. It’s a step in the right direction. Now they have to deal with tougher security problems related to virtual goods like credit card fraud. But we’re excited about push notifications inside apps. You can do voice chatting, peer-to-peer WiFi, and streaming.</p><p><b>VB: Companies like Ngmoco make only iPhone </b><b>games. Aren’t they better positioned than Digital Chocolate?</b></p><p><b>TH:</b> They may have a hard time scaling up. We have cross-platform agility. We’ve got games that have proven successful on a variety of platforms. Few software companies have shown that agility, being successful on more than one major platform. We can take the games to social networks or mobile phones or put it on the web as a casual game. Technologically, we can do that without starting over on the game. We have studios worldwide and so we can make games at lower costs. They’re starting from scratch on technology and costs. Omni gamers will expect that any platform they have will have the content they want or the content they have already paid for.</p></div>
• <div></div> <div> <h3><a rel="nofollow" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Late to the iPhone, Trip Hawkins’ Digital Chocolate falls in love with it" href="http://venturebeat.com/2009/04/14/late-to-the-iphone-trip-hawkins-digital-chocolate-falls-in-love-with-it/">Late to the iPhone, Trip Hawkins’ Digital Chocolate falls in love with it</a></h3> <div> <span><a rel="nofollow" title="Posts by Dean Takahashi" href="http://venturebeat.com/author/dean-takahashi/">Dean Takahashi</a></span> | <span>April 14th, 2009</span> </div> </div> <div> <p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/trip-1.jpg"><img src="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/trip-1.jpg" alt="" title="trip-1" style="float:right;width:245px;height:190px" width="300"></a><i>We’ve written about how new <a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/2009/04/11/iphone-devotion-blinds-silicon-valley-app-developers/">developers are enamored with the iPhone</a>. But Trip Hawkins (founder of <a rel="nofollow" href="http://info.ea.com">Electronic Arts</a>) admits that his mobile game company, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.digitalchocolate.com/">Digital Chocolate</a>, was late to the iPhone. The San Mateo, Calif.-based company has 350 employees making games for all sorts of cell phones, but the iPhone’s popularity caught it by surprise. Now Hawkins has come back with a vengeance. His company has launched five iPhone games since December and four of them have hit No. 1. That’s no easy feat, considering there are 7,931 games on the iPhone, according to <a rel="nofollow" href="http://mobclix.com/appstore/1">Mobclix</a>. We talked with Hawkins about it at Digital Chocolate. </i></p><p><b>VB: How do you feel about the iPhone?</b></p><p><b>TH: </b>The iPhone for us was a spectacularly pleasant surprise. We had no idea it was going to be as good for us as it turned out to be….The first two [games] were <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.apptism.com/apps/chocolate-shop-frenzy">Chocolate Shop Frenzy</a> (right) and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.apptism.com/apps/chocolate-shop-frenzy">Crazy Penguin Catapult</a> (below). They were successful on other platforms. The next two were Tower Blocks and Brick Breaker Revolution. There are 35,000 apps [competing on the iPhone]. Thousands are free. To get to No. 1, it’s pretty rare. There is a rotation where something stays at No. 1 for a week or two. The odds are very low. If there are maybe 25 products that have hit No. 1, then your odds are one in a thousand. Penguin was No. 1 through Christmas. Tower Blocks was No. 1 in February. Brick Breaker Revolution made it to No. 1 in April. That’s a mathematical freak. We have now released a fifth game, and a couple of more are coming. The first four games, in less than 100 days, hit 10 million downloads. Our record is like <a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/2008/10/28/playfish-raises-17-million-for-facebook-games/">Playfish’s on Facebook games</a>. Our reviews are great as well.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/crazy_penguin_01.jpg"><img src="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/crazy_penguin_01.jpg" alt="" title="crazy_penguin_01" style="float:right;width:245px;height:163px" width="300"></a><b>VB: How is revenue?</b></p><p><b>TH: </b>One of the things we do is calculate revenue of the top players by doing correlations with the revenues on our own titles that are in the top ranks. You look at the rankings, the units sold, and the likely revenues associated with them. With that, you can create the top revenue 100 list. All five of our games are in the top 100 for revenue. Four of our games are in the top 100 by unit volume even though the prices for them are $3 each or more. If you weed out the really cheap products at 99 cents or free, then you find there are only three companies that can command a price of $3 or more and to rank high enough in the top 100 units sold.</p><p><b>VB: How do your iPhone games fit within the larger strategy?</b></p><p><b>TH: </b>It’s by far our most effective platform. We make as much money with these games on one device as we do putting a game on 100 different cell phone platforms. Between the iPod Touch and the iPhone, I think the platform is freaking out Sony and Nintendo. Apple has sold 30 million units so far and it has created tremendous awareness. It has taken ground all over the world. But it has only penetrated one half of one percent of its total market.</p><p><b>VB: What do you think of all the other mobile app stores coming on other platforms? </b></p><p><b>TH:</b> It’s just like with the Mac and the PC. The clones are coming. Device makers, chip companies, software companies and others are getting into the act. We may experiment with putting games on those new app stores, but the urgency now is to put games on the iPhone. One of Apple’s really big advantages is iTunes. They’ve spent years building up those iTunes accounts and it’s much easier for the money to flow.</p><p>One question facing Apple is whether it should remain tethered to the PC or the Mac. You can’t use an iPhone unless you download things via the computer. If you want to upgrade your system software, you have to do that on the computer. That’s a major reason why they don’t do well in Japan, where they don’t care about the computer. A large percentage of the world market won’t ever have a computer. Apple needs a plan for that. Another big question: Apple refused to license the Mac in its early years and ultimately lived to regret it. Will Apple license the iPhone to others now? <span></span></p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/trip-31.jpg"><img src="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/trip-31.jpg" alt="" title="trip-31" style="float:right;width:245px;height:222px" width="300"></a></p><p><b>VB: Research In Motion has launched its BlackBerry app store. What kind of opportunity is that?</b></p><p>It’s not so hard to dump an entire library of games on another platform that supports Java. Everybody else is a couple of years behind Apple. The genius of the iPhone is the multi-touch display, which lets you not only touch but swoosh your finger across the screen. No one has duplicated it yet.</p><p><b>VB: What store is worth dumping your whole library on? What store is worth some investment in terms of creating unique games for it?</b></p><p><b>TH: </b>That’s a daunting question. We notice that brands don’t do that well on the iPhone, nor do generic games like poker or bowling. A lot of brands aren’t going to cut it. I’d expect that original titles that are built for the platform will become the new brands on the iPhone. It’s like the birth of the web. People thought Disney and NBC would dominate the web. That didn’t turn out to be true. It’s a new medium dominated by new brands.</p><p><b>VB: What was unique about your iPhone games?</b></p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/trip-2.jpg"><img src="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/trip-2.jpg" alt="" title="trip-2" style="float:right;width:245px;height:200px" width="300"></a><b>TH: </b>We worked on a memory management technology that made the games work better. Our games were from our back catalog of previously published titles. They were tailored for the iPhone. We had to design it for one-button play and a swiping/touch or tilting mechanic. The platform can finally keep up with the things that you want to do. It reminds me of the Sega Genesis, when EA finally had a platform that could keep up with the games we wanted to make.</p><p><b>VB: Why are gamers playing more on the iPhone?</b></p><p><b>TH: </b>The hardcore gamer plays to win a game. The omni gamer, who consumes media on all platforms, is playing to make social connections. They’re playing because it’s fashionable and cool and it’s fun to show your friends what you’re doing. There is no way you can have multiple top hits on the iPhone unless you have viral spreading going on. Your products have to be conversation starters. A lot of downloads that happen do so because a friend recommended it. You’re not going to tell your friends about a game unless it’s original and high quality.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/tower-bloxx-iphone.jpg"><img src="http://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/tower-bloxx-iphone.jpg" alt="" title="tower-bloxx-iphone" style="float:right;width:245px;height:368px" width="300"></a><b>VB: Do you publish your top sellers only on the iPhone?</b></p><p><b>TH:</b> No. The first ones that published were the ones that finished first. None of them were monster hits on other platforms. One exception: Tower Bloxx was a big hit on the web and on Facebook. The challenge on the iPhone was that it had to get discovered. We did a version that took advantage of the tilting feature.</p><p><b>VB: What do you like about <a rel="nofollow" href="http://venturebeat.com/2009/03/17/iphone-os-30-roundup-push-notification-cut-and-paste-and-more/">the iPhone 3.0 software </a>update coming?</b></p><p><b>TH:</b> It’s very exciting. They are adding additional billing models like virtual goods. It’s a step in the right direction. Now they have to deal with tougher security problems related to virtual goods like credit card fraud. But we’re excited about push notifications inside apps. You can do voice chatting, peer-to-peer WiFi, and streaming.</p><p><b>VB: Companies like Ngmoco make only iPhone </b><b>games. Aren’t they better positioned than Digital Chocolate?</b></p><p><b>TH:</b> They may have a hard time scaling up. We have cross-platform agility. We’ve got games that have proven successful on a variety of platforms. Few software companies have shown that agility, being successful on more than one major platform. We can take the games to social networks or mobile phones or put it on the web as a casual game. Technologically, we can do that without starting over on the game. We have studios worldwide and so we can make games at lower costs. They’re starting from scratch on technology and costs. Omni gamers will expect that any platform they have will have the content they want or the content they have already paid for.</p></div>

• Lessons In iPhone Game Marketing

  by Dan Grigsby on April 27, 2009 · 2 comments

  

  There’s a lot to be learned about marketing an iPhone game from the story of Dapple as told by its creator Owen Goss (Profile) of Streaming Colour Studios. In March, Owen made headlines with “The Numbers Post” in his blog; summary: Dapple cost $32K to build;$535 first month’s revenues.

  In this podcast interview, Owen talks about what he’s learned since then, his challenges adapting his initial idea to match existing game genres, the risks trying to build one game to appeal to two distinct gamer-audiences, the importance of concentrating your buzz around an app’s launch day, the critical “pick up and play” requirement for iPhone games and more.

  Almost everything we talk about applies to creating success in non-game categories to.

  To accompany this podcast, Owen has published a follow up Number Post: Part 2.

  You can listen using the Flash player below, download the MP3, or subscribe to the iPhone Developer Podcast using the instructions at the bottom of this post.

  For easy scanning of the interview, here is what was covered and when:

  • 1:00 Progression from initial concept to prototype to launch
  • 3:30 Play testing the original concept
  • 5:00 Taking a to-hard concept and making it accessible by placing it within an existing genre
  • 5:30 “Reference point” (matching game genre) + new concept (mixing paint) to create a new experience
  • 6:15 Prototype in week; six months to ship the finished game; time spent between
  • 11:00 Lite version timing, effect on sales
  • 15:00 Importance of concentrating PR/buzz day of launch
  • 16:45 Importance of sending review copies out before game goes live
  • 17:15 Friday, esp. before a long weekend: bad day for getting press attention
  • 17:45 Review site cycle: minimum of one week after they see app for first time
  • 19:45 iPhone review sites important?
  • 21:25 Choosing an audience
  • 23:00 “Identity crisis” — casual game market overlaps little w. puzzle game market
  • 26:00 Losing sales because apps larger than 10MB require WiFi to download
  • 28:00 Next game: immediate “pick up and play” experience

  Keep up to date with our iPhone developers’ podcast

  Subscribe to our iPhone Development Podcast in one of two great ways:

  1. Use the podcast’s feed with the feed app of your choice: http://podcast.mobileorchard.com/feed/podcast/
  2. Subscribe using iTunes by clicking here.

  We hope you enjoy the podcast, and if you have any suggestions of who we should interview (or want to be interviewed yourself), use our Contact page or leave a comment against this post. Thanks for listening!

• Lessons In iPhone Game Marketing

  by Dan Grigsby on April 27, 2009 · 2 comments

  

  There’s a lot to be learned about marketing an iPhone game from the story of Dapple as told by its creator Owen Goss (Profile) of Streaming Colour Studios. In March, Owen made headlines with “The Numbers Post” in his blog; summary: Dapple cost $32K to build;$535 first month’s revenues.

  In this podcast interview, Owen talks about what he’s learned since then, his challenges adapting his initial idea to match existing game genres, the risks trying to build one game to appeal to two distinct gamer-audiences, the importance of concentrating your buzz around an app’s launch day, the critical “pick up and play” requirement for iPhone games and more.

  Almost everything we talk about applies to creating success in non-game categories to.

  To accompany this podcast, Owen has published a follow up Number Post: Part 2.

  You can listen using the Flash player below, download the MP3, or subscribe to the iPhone Developer Podcast using the instructions at the bottom of this post.

  For easy scanning of the interview, here is what was covered and when:

  • 1:00 Progression from initial concept to prototype to launch
  • 3:30 Play testing the original concept
  • 5:00 Taking a to-hard concept and making it accessible by placing it within an existing genre
  • 5:30 “Reference point” (matching game genre) + new concept (mixing paint) to create a new experience
  • 6:15 Prototype in week; six months to ship the finished game; time spent between
  • 11:00 Lite version timing, effect on sales
  • 15:00 Importance of concentrating PR/buzz day of launch
  • 16:45 Importance of sending review copies out before game goes live
  • 17:15 Friday, esp. before a long weekend: bad day for getting press attention
  • 17:45 Review site cycle: minimum of one week after they see app for first time
  • 19:45 iPhone review sites important?
  • 21:25 Choosing an audience
  • 23:00 “Identity crisis” — casual game market overlaps little w. puzzle game market
  • 26:00 Losing sales because apps larger than 10MB require WiFi to download
  • 28:00 Next game: immediate “pick up and play” experience

  Keep up to date with our iPhone developers’ podcast

  Subscribe to our iPhone Development Podcast in one of two great ways:

  1. Use the podcast’s feed with the feed app of your choice: http://podcast.mobileorchard.com/feed/podcast/
  2. Subscribe using iTunes by clicking here.

  We hope you enjoy the podcast, and if you have any suggestions of who we should interview (or want to be interviewed yourself), use our Contact page or leave a comment against this post. Thanks for listening!

• Live CrunchCam: Watch Bloggers While They Blog »

  Just How Much Money Can Free iPhone Apps Make? Quite A Bit

  56 Comments

  by Jason Kincaid on May 6, 2009

  

  Earlier this year Pinch Media released a report on the state of the App Store, describing some of the trends it had seen as developers tried to monetize their apps. The verdict: advertising on free applications simply can’t match the payoff from even the least expensive ‘paid’ applications, and would require an unobtainable $8.75 CPM to reach the same income per install.

  AdWhirl, the iPhone advertising platform formerly known as Adrollo, begs to differ. Since launching last month, the company has signed on over 10% of the top 50 applications in the App Store and is serving 250 million ad impressions per month. And their data tells a different tale.

  According to co-founder Sam Yam, one of the fundamental flaws in the Pinch Media report is that it assumes that applications only show a single ad impression per user interaction (in other words, every time you open a free app, you only see one ad). Yam says that applications actually tend to serve 3-5 impressions each time a customer interacts with them, with even higher figures for some especially engaging applications. And when you divide that $8.75 CPM by 5, things become much more reasonable.

  The AdWhirl report, embedded below, says that applications that crack the top 100 in the Free Apps list make $400-$5000 a day - a wide range to be sure, but even at the low end that works out to around $12,000 a month. Among these top apps, AdWhirl is reporting an impressive $1.90 eCPM and 2.6% CTR. And while applications that do reach the peak position in the App Store eventually lose steam, revenue tends to remain consistent over time after the initial dip (see the graph below). Of course, making it to the top of the Free Apps list is easier said than done, and most developers make far less than $400 a day. But the same is true of the vast majority of paid applications too - in fact, there’s actually less competition on the Free side of the store.

  
  
  

  As for AdWhirl, it seems like the startup is off to a great start. The company allows developers to tap into multiple iPhone ad networks at once, allowing them to compensate when one network doesn’t have enough ad inventory (something that AdWhirl says happens as much as 40% of the time). Finally, it’s important to note that it’s obviously in AdWhirl’s interest to promote iPhone advertising, since that’s their business. But it’s clear that there are definitely quite a few free applications making good money,.
• Live CrunchCam: Watch Bloggers While They Blog »

  Just How Much Money Can Free iPhone Apps Make? Quite A Bit

  56 Comments

  by Jason Kincaid on May 6, 2009

  

  Earlier this year Pinch Media released a report on the state of the App Store, describing some of the trends it had seen as developers tried to monetize their apps. The verdict: advertising on free applications simply can’t match the payoff from even the least expensive ‘paid’ applications, and would require an unobtainable $8.75 CPM to reach the same income per install.

  AdWhirl, the iPhone advertising platform formerly known as Adrollo, begs to differ. Since launching last month, the company has signed on over 10% of the top 50 applications in the App Store and is serving 250 million ad impressions per month. And their data tells a different tale.

  According to co-founder Sam Yam, one of the fundamental flaws in the Pinch Media report is that it assumes that applications only show a single ad impression per user interaction (in other words, every time you open a free app, you only see one ad). Yam says that applications actually tend to serve 3-5 impressions each time a customer interacts with them, with even higher figures for some especially engaging applications. And when you divide that $8.75 CPM by 5, things become much more reasonable.

  The AdWhirl report, embedded below, says that applications that crack the top 100 in the Free Apps list make $400-$5000 a day - a wide range to be sure, but even at the low end that works out to around $12,000 a month. Among these top apps, AdWhirl is reporting an impressive $1.90 eCPM and 2.6% CTR. And while applications that do reach the peak position in the App Store eventually lose steam, revenue tends to remain consistent over time after the initial dip (see the graph below). Of course, making it to the top of the Free Apps list is easier said than done, and most developers make far less than $400 a day. But the same is true of the vast majority of paid applications too - in fact, there’s actually less competition on the Free side of the store.

  
  
  

  As for AdWhirl, it seems like the startup is off to a great start. The company allows developers to tap into multiple iPhone ad networks at once, allowing them to compensate when one network doesn’t have enough ad inventory (something that AdWhirl says happens as much as 40% of the time). Finally, it’s important to note that it’s obviously in AdWhirl’s interest to promote iPhone advertising, since that’s their business. But it’s clear that there are definitely quite a few free applications making good money,.

• Behind the Scenes at an iPhone Development House

  posted by Thom Holwerda on Thu 7th May 2009 17:38 UTC, submitted by caffeine deprived

  Collect3 is an Australian iPhone development house that has released a number of successful utilities sold in the App Store. In this lengthy interview two of the founders discuss the pitfalls iPhone developers face and how they managed to find success in the increasingly crowded app store. They also discuss Collect3's sister company, Revolutionary Concepts, which is designed to be a collective to aid aspiring iPhone devs with marketing, know-how and other support.
• Behind the Scenes at an iPhone Development House

  posted by Thom Holwerda on Thu 7th May 2009 17:38 UTC, submitted by caffeine deprived

  Collect3 is an Australian iPhone development house that has released a number of successful utilities sold in the App Store. In this lengthy interview two of the founders discuss the pitfalls iPhone developers face and how they managed to find success in the increasingly crowded app store. They also discuss Collect3's sister company, Revolutionary Concepts, which is designed to be a collective to aid aspiring iPhone devs with marketing, know-how and other support.

• Building an iPhone Business

  Introduction

  A week ago I was asked to give a presentation to a local meet-up mobile group called Mobile Portland about my 12 years in mobile and how that relates to the iPhone App Store. I decided to focus this on some conclusions I came to regarding building an iPhone business instead of being specific to Infinity Softworks.

  I then gave the same presentation earlier this week at OTBC, a local tech incubator that I’ve been involved with the past few years, for a Lunch-and-Learn. In total over 100 saw my presentation in person or streamed across the web.

  I’ve included both the slides and video here for your review. I think I’m taking a very realistic look at the challenges. Most of the popular press and blogs have been so overwhelmingly positive about the App Store and its impact for developers. But the make-up of the App Store is far more complicated than that for the vast majority of us, and the opportunities have morphed substantially over the last nine months.

  I hope this helps you with your business decisions, giving you a little more insight into the opportunities and challenges with Apple’s App Store itself. My goal was to analyze this from a business perspective. Obviously my own experiences influence the slides but feel that the presentation is broader than any one company’s experience

• Slides

  If you’d prefer to peruse the slides instead, please keep in mind that the video tells a much fuller story than the slides do:

  ---

  Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Building an iPhone Business

  Introduction

  A week ago I was asked to give a presentation to a local meet-up mobile group called Mobile Portland about my 12 years in mobile and how that relates to the iPhone App Store. I decided to focus this on some conclusions I came to regarding building an iPhone business instead of being specific to Infinity Softworks.

  I then gave the same presentation earlier this week at OTBC, a local tech incubator that I’ve been involved with the past few years, for a Lunch-and-Learn. In total over 100 saw my presentation in person or streamed across the web.

  I’ve included both the slides and video here for your review. I think I’m taking a very realistic look at the challenges. Most of the popular press and blogs have been so overwhelmingly positive about the App Store and its impact for developers. But the make-up of the App Store is far more complicated than that for the vast majority of us, and the opportunities have morphed substantially over the last nine months.

  I hope this helps you with your business decisions, giving you a little more insight into the opportunities and challenges with Apple’s App Store itself. My goal was to analyze this from a business perspective. Obviously my own experiences influence the slides but feel that the presentation is broader than any one company’s experience

• Slides

  If you’d prefer to peruse the slides instead, please keep in mind that the video tells a much fuller story than the slides do:

  ---

  Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

2 more annotations...

• How Aussie iPhone developers found success in the App Store
  Behind the scenes at the Collect3 development house
  James Hutchinson07/05/2009 17:40:00

  Tags: revolutionary concepts, iphone apps, iPhone, collect3, app store

  Page:

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  • 3
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  • next >

  

  Though it may not seem like it at first glance, Australians are making a serious dent in the iPhone App Store. From games to utilities, Aussie iPhone developers are making immensely popular iPhone apps. Wayne Whatford and his iPhone development company, Collect3 Web site, are proving that great app ideas and close attention to detail can yield rewards.

  Offering one of the most popular privacy apps for the iPhone, Picture Safe, Collect3 has garnered recognition both locally and abroad. GoodGearGuide.com.au had a chat with Wayne and coworker Dave Fumberger about Collect3, its sister company Revolutionary Concepts, and the state of the Australian iPhone developer community.

  We'll start with Collect3 first. How did the company come about and how does it interact with Revolutionary Concepts? How does your small employee base have an impact on the frequency and quality of your iPhone apps and subsequent support?

  Wayne: Collect3 is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, and was founded nine months ago after becoming really excited by the potential of the iPhone / iPod Touch platform.

  Like many people, we realised early on that more than just a fantastic phone, the iPhone was a next-generation computing platform. Our simple goal was just to make useful software that people would enjoy.

  We have been fortunate to have experienced more than our expected share of critical acclaim and commercial success in a very short space of time, and this has enabled us to increase the number and diversity of our apps, while gradually adding to our team. Current team members include myself, the founder of Revolutionary Concepts; Dave Fumberger, the founder of Collect3 (both based in Melbourne); Matt Grimes, who works across the pond in Portland, Oregon; as well as a forever changing number of independent programmers, developers, project managers, designers and testers, working in the four corners of the world.

  We have come into contact with a lot of developers who despite obvious talent struggle to make a go of things in the App Store

  At the same time as we have grown we have come into contact with a lot of developers who despite obvious talent struggle to make a go of things in the App Store. As we started out as just two guys (now eight) the challenges they and many others face really resonated and so we felt there ought to be a way to empower others while in some way putting something back into the community, and from there Revolutionary Concepts was formed.

  Essentially it is an iPhone-specific studio and publishing house, formed specifically as a vehicle for talented designers, coders, artists and musicians to leverage each others skills and benefit from the marketing muscle and financial support of a highly visible brand that screams quality.

  We know first-hand that while there's great freedom in going it alone, one person can’t do everything well end to end. The increasingly competitive nature of the App Store means that to really make a go of developing as a means to real, sustainable commercial success and to compete with the EAs, the Gamelofts, Freeverses and NGMocos of the world there is a need for a co-operative of talented independent developers from around the world. They can work together, sharing ideas and resources and in that way dramatically improve their chances for not just one-off hits but long term success, and the lifestyle we all deserve.

  The focus is on the provision of resources to get our partners' ideas built, supplemented by a steady stream of paid commercial work for those who want to go that route.

  So if Collect3 is our in-house development arm, then Revolutionary Concepts could best be described as the public-face of our commercial business. A 'house of brands' whose purpose in life is to assist independent developers achieve their goals. We take good ideas — wherever they come from — and manage all aspects of the tasks that make for a successful launch and ensure each app achieves its potential over its lifetime:

  1) Through a network of associates worldwide ensure that the idea is sound and add ideas that build value.

  2) Collaborate to provide strong execution across all disciplines — UI, art direction, music and sound, as well copywriting and promotion.

  3) Ensure a successful launch and more importantly that the app is managed over time! Carefully scrutinise performance and intervene with marketing campaigns and upgrades as needed.

  The name 'Revolutionary Concepts' is meant to imply three things, which, if we were being all corporate-like, are kind of like the mission statement or reason for being:

  1) We are all about creating revolutionary products.

  2) Being a revolutionary (recognising that there's an opportunity for people to cast off the shackles of 9 to 5 and reinvent themselves).

  3) Joining the revolution (benefit from a relationship with a publisher that is about shaking up the status quo. Creating an environment where individuals' talent is recognised, they are not part of a faceless company and can get the lion's share.)
• How Aussie iPhone developers found success in the App Store
  Behind the scenes at the Collect3 development house
  James Hutchinson07/05/2009 17:40:00

  Tags: revolutionary concepts, iphone apps, iPhone, collect3, app store

  Page:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • next >

  

  Though it may not seem like it at first glance, Australians are making a serious dent in the iPhone App Store. From games to utilities, Aussie iPhone developers are making immensely popular iPhone apps. Wayne Whatford and his iPhone development company, Collect3 Web site, are proving that great app ideas and close attention to detail can yield rewards.

  Offering one of the most popular privacy apps for the iPhone, Picture Safe, Collect3 has garnered recognition both locally and abroad. GoodGearGuide.com.au had a chat with Wayne and coworker Dave Fumberger about Collect3, its sister company Revolutionary Concepts, and the state of the Australian iPhone developer community.

  We'll start with Collect3 first. How did the company come about and how does it interact with Revolutionary Concepts? How does your small employee base have an impact on the frequency and quality of your iPhone apps and subsequent support?

  Wayne: Collect3 is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, and was founded nine months ago after becoming really excited by the potential of the iPhone / iPod Touch platform.

  Like many people, we realised early on that more than just a fantastic phone, the iPhone was a next-generation computing platform. Our simple goal was just to make useful software that people would enjoy.

  We have been fortunate to have experienced more than our expected share of critical acclaim and commercial success in a very short space of time, and this has enabled us to increase the number and diversity of our apps, while gradually adding to our team. Current team members include myself, the founder of Revolutionary Concepts; Dave Fumberger, the founder of Collect3 (both based in Melbourne); Matt Grimes, who works across the pond in Portland, Oregon; as well as a forever changing number of independent programmers, developers, project managers, designers and testers, working in the four corners of the world.

  We have come into contact with a lot of developers who despite obvious talent struggle to make a go of things in the App Store

  At the same time as we have grown we have come into contact with a lot of developers who despite obvious talent struggle to make a go of things in the App Store. As we started out as just two guys (now eight) the challenges they and many others face really resonated and so we felt there ought to be a way to empower others while in some way putting something back into the community, and from there Revolutionary Concepts was formed.

  Essentially it is an iPhone-specific studio and publishing house, formed specifically as a vehicle for talented designers, coders, artists and musicians to leverage each others skills and benefit from the marketing muscle and financial support of a highly visible brand that screams quality.

  We know first-hand that while there's great freedom in going it alone, one person can’t do everything well end to end. The increasingly competitive nature of the App Store means that to really make a go of developing as a means to real, sustainable commercial success and to compete with the EAs, the Gamelofts, Freeverses and NGMocos of the world there is a need for a co-operative of talented independent developers from around the world. They can work together, sharing ideas and resources and in that way dramatically improve their chances for not just one-off hits but long term success, and the lifestyle we all deserve.

  The focus is on the provision of resources to get our partners' ideas built, supplemented by a steady stream of paid commercial work for those who want to go that route.

  So if Collect3 is our in-house development arm, then Revolutionary Concepts could best be described as the public-face of our commercial business. A 'house of brands' whose purpose in life is to assist independent developers achieve their goals. We take good ideas — wherever they come from — and manage all aspects of the tasks that make for a successful launch and ensure each app achieves its potential over its lifetime:

  1) Through a network of associates worldwide ensure that the idea is sound and add ideas that build value.

  2) Collaborate to provide strong execution across all disciplines — UI, art direction, music and sound, as well copywriting and promotion.

  3) Ensure a successful launch and more importantly that the app is managed over time! Carefully scrutinise performance and intervene with marketing campaigns and upgrades as needed.

  The name 'Revolutionary Concepts' is meant to imply three things, which, if we were being all corporate-like, are kind of like the mission statement or reason for being:

  1) We are all about creating revolutionary products.

  2) Being a revolutionary (recognising that there's an opportunity for people to cast off the shackles of 9 to 5 and reinvent themselves).

  3) Joining the revolution (benefit from a relationship with a publisher that is about shaking up the status quo. Creating an environment where individuals' talent is recognised, they are not part of a faceless company and can get the lion's share.)

• WHO ARE COLLECT3?

  collect3 are a software development company based in Melbourne, Australia specialising in iPhone Development.

• WHO ARE COLLECT3?

  collect3 are a software development company based in Melbourne, Australia specialising in iPhone Development.

• • How Aussie iPhone developers found success in the App Store 07/05/2009 17:40:00

    Behind the scenes at the Collect3 development house
    Though it may not seem like it at first glance, Australians are making a serious dent in the iPhone App Store. From games to utilities, Aussie iPhone developers are making immensely popular iPhone apps.

• • How Aussie iPhone developers found success in the App Store 07/05/2009 17:40:00

    Behind the scenes at the Collect3 development house
    Though it may not seem like it at first glance, Australians are making a serious dent in the iPhone App Store. From games to utilities, Aussie iPhone developers are making immensely popular iPhone apps.

• • 
    

  • iPhone apps let amateurs share Apple's buzz 23/04/2009 08:20:00

    Amateur developers pour their enthusiasm into thinking up, designing, and building iPhone applications
    iPhone apps such as Tweetie may or may not make their creators rich. It's safe to say most iPhone app sellers won't be able to quit their day jobs. But that hasn't stopped both geeks and non-geeks alike from pouring their enthusiasm into thinking up, designing, and building iPhone applications that they sell or give away in Apple's App

• • iPhone Apps Apple doesn't want you to install 28/04/2009 17:11:00

    Here's a selection of favorite forbidden -- but useful and fun -- iPhone applications on Apple's banned list
    Here's a selection of favorite forbidden -- but useful and fun -- iPhone applications on Apple's banned list.

  • 10 apps that haven't left my iPhone 28/04/2009 15:02:00

    Apple may have sold 1 billion apps through the App Store, but there are only 10 which are must-haves for my iPhone
    Apple may have sold 1 billion apps through the App Store, but there are only 10 which are must-haves for my iPhone
• • 
    

  • iPhone apps let amateurs share Apple's buzz 23/04/2009 08:20:00

    Amateur developers pour their enthusiasm into thinking up, designing, and building iPhone applications
    iPhone apps such as Tweetie may or may not make their creators rich. It's safe to say most iPhone app sellers won't be able to quit their day jobs. But that hasn't stopped both geeks and non-geeks alike from pouring their enthusiasm into thinking up, designing, and building iPhone applications that they sell or give away in Apple's App

• • iPhone Apps Apple doesn't want you to install 28/04/2009 17:11:00

    Here's a selection of favorite forbidden -- but useful and fun -- iPhone applications on Apple's banned list
    Here's a selection of favorite forbidden -- but useful and fun -- iPhone applications on Apple's banned list.

  • 10 apps that haven't left my iPhone 28/04/2009 15:02:00

    Apple may have sold 1 billion apps through the App Store, but there are only 10 which are must-haves for my iPhone
    Apple may have sold 1 billion apps through the App Store, but there are only 10 which are must-haves for my iPhone

2 more annotations...

• collect3 Picture Safe

  A virtual vault for the iPhone secures those pictures you don't want made public.

  James Hutchinson26/02/2009 17:10:00

  The contents of your mobile phone can offer a snapshot of your life, giving a thief access to all your SMS messages and candid photos. The Picture Safe iPhone app from Australian company collect3 helps address this issue by blocking unauthorised access to all your saucy (or merely private) photos.

  During initial set up users are asked to choose and verify a PIN, which then becomes the password to access the photos you choose to protect. Photos can be imported through the iPhone's photo album or by taking photos from within the app itself. Importing photos can take some time and the app doesn't automatically delete photos from the core iPhone photo album, so you will have to manually delete them after importing.

  If you forget your PIN you will be unable to access your photos, though collect3 has said it will alter this in a future update.

  The Picture Safe interface is uncluttered and resembles the iPhone's normal Photos interface. Photos can be placed into different albums and can be displayed as a slideshow.

  Apart from the PIN, there are two other security measures. Snoop Stopper will redirect a user to an alternative album of stock photos if the PIN code is entered incorrectly three times. Quick Hide lets you hide the photo you're currently viewing by double tapping the screen; the app will then display a graph.

  Minds will inevitably jump to the obvious use for the app — porn — but Picture Safe has other potential uses, such securing photos of loved ones or confidential material. The low cost and simplicity of Picture Safe make it an enticing iPhone app.
• collect3 Picture Safe

  A virtual vault for the iPhone secures those pictures you don't want made public.

  James Hutchinson26/02/2009 17:10:00

  The contents of your mobile phone can offer a snapshot of your life, giving a thief access to all your SMS messages and candid photos. The Picture Safe iPhone app from Australian company collect3 helps address this issue by blocking unauthorised access to all your saucy (or merely private) photos.

  During initial set up users are asked to choose and verify a PIN, which then becomes the password to access the photos you choose to protect. Photos can be imported through the iPhone's photo album or by taking photos from within the app itself. Importing photos can take some time and the app doesn't automatically delete photos from the core iPhone photo album, so you will have to manually delete them after importing.

  If you forget your PIN you will be unable to access your photos, though collect3 has said it will alter this in a future update.

  The Picture Safe interface is uncluttered and resembles the iPhone's normal Photos interface. Photos can be placed into different albums and can be displayed as a slideshow.

  Apart from the PIN, there are two other security measures. Snoop Stopper will redirect a user to an alternative album of stock photos if the PIN code is entered incorrectly three times. Quick Hide lets you hide the photo you're currently viewing by double tapping the screen; the app will then display a graph.

  Minds will inevitably jump to the obvious use for the app — porn — but Picture Safe has other potential uses, such securing photos of loved ones or confidential material. The low cost and simplicity of Picture Safe make it an enticing iPhone app.

• Windows Marketplace for Mobile Opens to Developers

  Written by Lidija Davis / May 2, 2009 2:58 PM / 4 Comments

  « Prior Post Next Post »

  
  

  Microsoft today opened up its Windows Marketplace for Mobile to developers. The move, which brings Windows mobile up to date with Apple's App Store and the Android Market, provides developers yet another way to generate revenue from their applications.

  According to Microsoft, the process is simple. You'll need a Live ID and $99 to sign up; to get paid, you'll need to provide bank account and tax identification details.

  The Marketplace is designed for Windows phones running Windows Mobile 6.5, which are expected to go on sale sometime in September 2009, and as pointed out by Microsoft last month, developers will receive 70 percent of the revenue from the sales of each application. Developers will also have the ability to set the pricing for their apps.

  

  Important to note, however, is the annual registration fee of $99 only allows you to put forward up to five submissions per registered year; additional submissions will cost $99. If you're a student developer, the registration fee will be waived if you enroll in Microsoft's DreamSpark program.

  Although Windows Mobile only has a 5.98 per cent market share, Microsoft claims that more than 20 million smartphones were sold in 2008 that had its software on board. Given the Marketplace will be placed on every Windows phone, this is not an insignificant number, and one that may provide developers with the opportunity to earn a considerable amount of money.

  More information can be found here.

• Windows Marketplace for Mobile Opens to Developers

  Written by Lidija Davis / May 2, 2009 2:58 PM / 4 Comments

  « Prior Post Next Post »

  
  

  Microsoft today opened up its Windows Marketplace for Mobile to developers. The move, which brings Windows mobile up to date with Apple's App Store and the Android Market, provides developers yet another way to generate revenue from their applications.

  According to Microsoft, the process is simple. You'll need a Live ID and $99 to sign up; to get paid, you'll need to provide bank account and tax identification details.

  The Marketplace is designed for Windows phones running Windows Mobile 6.5, which are expected to go on sale sometime in September 2009, and as pointed out by Microsoft last month, developers will receive 70 percent of the revenue from the sales of each application. Developers will also have the ability to set the pricing for their apps.

  

  Important to note, however, is the annual registration fee of $99 only allows you to put forward up to five submissions per registered year; additional submissions will cost $99. If you're a student developer, the registration fee will be waived if you enroll in Microsoft's DreamSpark program.

  Although Windows Mobile only has a 5.98 per cent market share, Microsoft claims that more than 20 million smartphones were sold in 2008 that had its software on board. Given the Marketplace will be placed on every Windows phone, this is not an insignificant number, and one that may provide developers with the opportunity to earn a considerable amount of money.

  More information can be found here.

• AdWhirl prova que apps gratuitos podem gerar (muito) dinheiro com propaganda

  por Rafael Fischmann | 06/05/2009 às 10:53 3 Comentários

  Essa é para os que acham que aquelas pequenas propagandas colocadas em apps gratuitos não são efetivas: de acordo com dados liberados (PDF, 268KB) pela AdWhirl (antes conhecida como Adrollo), os 100 títulos gratuitos mais populares da iPhone App Store geram de US$400 a US$5.000 por dia com publicidade, com uma média de CPM (Custo Por Mil impressões) de aproximadamente US$2.

  

  A AdWhirl é uma companhia especializada em soluções de propaganda e representa cerca de 10% dos títulos Top 50 da App Store. Para muitos (os desconhecidos, principalmente) essa solução pode não parecer eficaz, mas diante de tais números comprova-se que o modelo pode ser muito bom, desvinculando-se dos pagamentos e divisão de lucros estabelecidos pela Apple.

  A firma disse que serve hoje 250 milhões de anúncios por mês para aplicativos de iPhones/iPods touch.

  [Via: TechCrunch.]

• AdWhirl prova que apps gratuitos podem gerar (muito) dinheiro com propaganda

  por Rafael Fischmann | 06/05/2009 às 10:53 3 Comentários

  Essa é para os que acham que aquelas pequenas propagandas colocadas em apps gratuitos não são efetivas: de acordo com dados liberados (PDF, 268KB) pela AdWhirl (antes conhecida como Adrollo), os 100 títulos gratuitos mais populares da iPhone App Store geram de US$400 a US$5.000 por dia com publicidade, com uma média de CPM (Custo Por Mil impressões) de aproximadamente US$2.

  

  A AdWhirl é uma companhia especializada em soluções de propaganda e representa cerca de 10% dos títulos Top 50 da App Store. Para muitos (os desconhecidos, principalmente) essa solução pode não parecer eficaz, mas diante de tais números comprova-se que o modelo pode ser muito bom, desvinculando-se dos pagamentos e divisão de lucros estabelecidos pela Apple.

  A firma disse que serve hoje 250 milhões de anúncios por mês para aplicativos de iPhones/iPods touch.

  [Via: TechCrunch.]

• Why I'm Missing the iPhone Gold Rush

  One of the questions I get asked most these days is, "When are your games coming out for the iPhone?" I'm getting this a LOT. I'm not going to do it. But, when you get so many people knocking down your door for something, you'd better come up with a good reason for saying no.
  
  Here's My Game ... Do I Get Rich Now?
  
  When you write games, new platforms become available all the time. Then you have to decide whether to write games for them or not. XBox Live was one such platform. XBox Community Games is another. And WiiWare. And, of course, the iPhone.

• Why I'm Missing the iPhone Gold Rush

  One of the questions I get asked most these days is, "When are your games coming out for the iPhone?" I'm getting this a LOT. I'm not going to do it. But, when you get so many people knocking down your door for something, you'd better come up with a good reason for saying no.
  
  Here's My Game ... Do I Get Rich Now?
  
  When you write games, new platforms become available all the time. Then you have to decide whether to write games for them or not. XBox Live was one such platform. XBox Community Games is another. And WiiWare. And, of course, the iPhone.

• Get your video widget at Vodpod.

  Interesting Thoughts on The iPhone Game “Gold Rush” and Other Indie Game Insight

  • Written by diamondtearz
  • Posted March 30, 2009

  Thought provoking article from The Bottom Feeder, indie game developer blog “Why I’m missing The iPhone Gold Rush” The author has given deep thought to the choice of games to develop and platforms to use, the ROI and whether it’s worth it. Good read.

  The author also has a Pair of Posts Titled “So, Here’s How Many Games I Sell” and How Many Games I sell Part 2. He has been in the industry since the early 90’s and gives an honest and humorous dose of reality about independent game development.

  Related Posts:

  • 7 Things to do while avoiding Objective C on the iPhone and where to go when you give in
  • The iPhone Gold Rush- According to the New York Times
  • Hand-Picked Collection of iPhone Resources- Oooooh! Ahhhh!
  • New York Times Article- Casual Games as A Threat to Major Game Companies
  • links for 2009-05-02
• Get your video widget at Vodpod.

  Interesting Thoughts on The iPhone Game “Gold Rush” and Other Indie Game Insight

  • Written by diamondtearz
  • Posted March 30, 2009

  Thought provoking article from The Bottom Feeder, indie game developer blog “Why I’m missing The iPhone Gold Rush” The author has given deep thought to the choice of games to develop and platforms to use, the ROI and whether it’s worth it. Good read.

  The author also has a Pair of Posts Titled “So, Here’s How Many Games I Sell” and How Many Games I sell Part 2. He has been in the industry since the early 90’s and gives an honest and humorous dose of reality about independent game development.

  Related Posts:

  • 7 Things to do while avoiding Objective C on the iPhone and where to go when you give in
  • The iPhone Gold Rush- According to the New York Times
  • Hand-Picked Collection of iPhone Resources- Oooooh! Ahhhh!
  • New York Times Article- Casual Games as A Threat to Major Game Companies
  • links for 2009-05-02

• The User Review Tipping Point

  Posted March 25, 2009 by Elia Freedman
  Categories: Infinity Softworks, Success Factors
  Tags: AppStore, FastFigures, iPhone
  

  I read a very interesting report recently on how user reviews act as a tipping point. (link is here) The long and short of it is that 20 reviews seemed to be the tipping point. When you get to around 20 reviews, it makes a big difference in people’s opinions.

  We hit 20 reviews in the U.S. iPhone AppStore last week and have seen our sales go up every day since. (Thanks to all of you who reviewed it. Here’s a press release on the topic.)

  Watching sales of FastFigures Mobile has been a roller coaster. We started off strong but of course faded as we left the “What’s New” section and all of our faithful customers purchased. Then it was a matter of watching for bottom. It just kept getting a little worse every day. It was killing me!

  The biggest saving grace during that time was the wonderful things people were saying about FastFigures. I still can’t believe it. (This is version 1 folks! If you think it’s good, wait to see what I have in mind next!)

  As of this morning, we have 27 reviews, 26 of which are 4 or 5 stars! We had one 2 star rating and to be honest, I’m quite thankful for it. It was starting to look like I paid people to say nice things about us! (If you are someone who has tried it and don’t like it, it’s okay if you don’t review it at the AppStore, though. I’d rather you email me and tell me what you don’t like so I can fix it.)

  It took a week but we found bottom. I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how people would find us and played with language to learn about the AppStore’s search mechanism. We made strategic decisions to change the way we were delivering the application, changing the name from FastFigures Mobile to FastFigures Finance Calculator in the process.

  And then these changes started to take affect. And sales steadied out. And it became clear that we had found a nice, steady bottom (and one I could live with). And — the best part — the anxiety subsided and I slept again.

  But then a funny thing happened. We hit 20 reviews in the U.S. version of the AppStore. Since then our sales have gone up EVERY DAY! And visions of actually making a living wage have returned! Let’s hope it isn’t just more bumps on this roller coaster. I could use a nice, steady uphill climb.
• <h2><a rel="nofollow" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Lessons Learned: One Month in the iPhone AppStore" href="http://eliainsider.com/2009/04/15/lessons-learned-one-month-in-the-iphone-appstore/">Lessons Learned: One Month in the iPhone AppStore</a></h2> <small>Posted April 15, 2009 by Elia Freedman<br> <b>Categories:</b> <a rel="nofollow" rel="category tag" title="View all posts in Infinity Softworks" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/infinity-softworks/">Infinity Softworks</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="category tag" title="View all posts in Uncategorized" href="http://eliainsider.com/category/uncategorized/">Uncategorized</a></small> <br> <b>Tags:</b> <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/appstore/">AppStore</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/calculator/">Calculator</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/fastfigures/">FastFigures</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/finance-calculator/">Finance Calculator</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/financial-calculator/">Financial Calculator</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/iphone/">iPhone</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/ipod-touch/">iPod Touch</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/itunes/">iTunes</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/sales/">Sales</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/search/">Search</a><br> <div> <div><p>My article here is the story leading up to and including <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.fastfigures.com/mobiledetails">FastFigures finance calculator’s</a> first month in the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.fastfigures.com/apple">iTunes AppStore</a>. If you’re not interested in the story, feel free to <a rel="nofollow" href="http://eliainsider.com/#conclusions">jump to my conclusions at the bottom</a>.</p><p><b>Pre-Amble</b></p><p>We started developing FastFigures Financial Calculator for iPhone and iPod Touch in November of 2008 with a team of two people. I developed the UI; Rick developed the engine and back-end. We spent some time through the summer reading and learning Objective-C (which would have gone a lot faster if the NDA wasn’t in place), but real development started in November after a contract job we were working on ended.</p><p>My intention was to develop an offline companion to our online version of FastFigures. I started with a list of about 100 of my current customers that requested the product for iPhone. By the time we shipped, that list grew to 250. I emailed with this community about every two weeks, soliciting feedback, getting input, learning how they have used our products so I could make FastFigures better than they expected and, hopefully, have a bunch of customers ready to go at launch.</p><p><b>Pre-Launch</b></p><p>In retrospect the smartest thing I did before launch was start a dialog with my customers. As mentioned we had about 250 people requesting our products for iPhone. This community gave me endless feedback regarding their most important calculator templates, the structure of the application and features that they needed to have. My goal was to never accept just a feature request but instead to always ask why they wanted that feature as well. In the process, I learned more in three months of development than I did in the first 12 years of running Infinity Softworks about my customers and how they use the product.</p><p>The second smartest thing I did was hire a designer. Kelly Beile (web site <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.kellybeile.com">here</a>) did a tremendous job of adding a professional look to both the application and our web site. This, I believe, is more important on iPhone that it has ever been on any other mobile device before.</p><p>One of the major pre-release issues was pricing. We have demanded and received upwards of $50 to $150 for our applications in the past and price sensitivity tests had shown dropping the price didn’t increase sales significantly. I knew we were going to have to re-think pricing for iPhone as $10 is considered expensive in the AppStore. Again, we conducted a survey of these pre-release customers using a method perfected by <a rel="nofollow" href="http://synergy-usa.com/">Mark Paul at Synergy Consulting</a>. (While nothing replaces hiring him, his books are <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.synergy-usa.com/EntrepreneursSurvivalGuide-eBook.htm">here</a> and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.attractmorecustomers.net/">here</a>.)</p><p>The price sensitivity data showed a starting price of $9.99 maximized revenue but I was concerned that these customers were too familiar with our products and wouldn’t represent the broader world of iPhone users. After agonizing over this for over a week, I decided to adjust the pricing based on some additional factors and settled on $5.99. This decision is proving to be both a good one and a bad one, and I struggle with selling our applications so inexpensively to this day.</p><p>One mistake I did make in these early days was not spending enough time making sure the paperwork was in order. This cost us two days in the end — two critical days when we would be high on the What’s New list of applications.</p><p><b>Launch</b></p><p>As mentioned before, I planned on launching two versions of FastFigures, a web-based version called FastFigures Online and a version that runs without an Internet connection for iPhone and iPod Touch called FastFigures Mobile. Each product would work for a wide variety of potential customers: real estate, finance, investing, science and engineering, math, medical and more. I wrote the copy with our part-time marketer, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.janetleejohnson.com">Janet Lee Johnson</a> based here in Portland, and got everything set up in the AppStore. We submitted to Apple on February 13, hoping for a February 18 release date but was rejected on February 17 with a very minor issue. It went back into review that same day and Apple signed off on February 22.</p><p>And this is where not understanding the process hurt us. First, I didn’t realize that there was some additional paperwork that needed to be completed. That was completed on the 23rd. Then, once everything is signed off, it takes 24 hours to show up in the AppStore. Finally on the 24th, I’m looking for the application in What’s New and can’t find it! Panic struck until I went to the second page of applications and saw it listed as released on February 18.</p><p>Apple launches your app on the earlier of their sign-off date (Feb 22 in this case) or our requested launch date (Feb 18). I didn’t think to change the desired launch date, figuring the date would be the date it actually appeared in the Store. Once I figured this out, I was able to adjust the date back to Feb 22 but by then it cost us two days of coverage on the front page of Apple’s iTunes AppStore.</p><p>The good news was we had these 250 people ready to go (not all of which purchased). This got us off to a great start and gave us product reviews and sales we wouldn’t have had otherwise. We started out at number 22 Top Paid Finance apps and stayed in the Top 25 for our first week. But once sales slowed down, it became apparent quickly that we would not be found in the AppStore. Adjustments needed to be made.</p><p><b>Month One</b></p><p>We were quickly learning that the noise level for iPhone applications was very loud. Janet was doing outreach to iPhone bloggers and others. We weren’t getting much of anywhere. In the meantime, it was clear that if I didn’t fix our search issues in the AppStore, we would just disappear. The free fall started the first week of March, just as we left the What’s New listing. On March 3, we were at 30 in Top Paid Finance apps. Four days later we were at #40; two days after that #45. We bottomed out at #50 on the 14th of March.</p><p>I was also watching a few search terms. For us, specifically, that was “calculator”, “finance calculator”, and “financial calculator”. We didn’t show up for any of these terms on March 2, when I made the first description change. Realizing that we needed to be less generic in description and capability, I renamed the application to FastFigures Financial Calculator. We showed up on all three the next day: #59, 19 and 6, respectively. A week later we had slipped to oblivion levels, however, at #74, 26 and 8. At this point, I changed the description again, to FastFigures Finance Calculator (finance calculator is searched for in Google far more often than financial calculator), which caused us to disappear from “calculator” and “financial calculator” searches. I made the last (and final) changes two days later, peppering the first description paragraph with the term “financial calculator”. That finally did it, getting us back on the list for all three and starting to see a climb up the ranks.</p><p>The beauty of low sales numbers is that I felt more comfortable experimenting. If we were doing great sales, I would have been hesitant to play with the search positions. We bottomed out on March 14, 1/3 of our original projections, and stayed close to this bottom per day until the 19th.</p><p>Meanwhile, those who purchased LOVED FastFigures. We had great reviews. On March 19, we passed 20 reviews in the U.S. Store, receiving 18-5 stars, 2-4 stars and a 2-star from reviewers.</p><p>Two things happened around March 19th that changed our fortunes. For one, we hit that magical 20 review level I’ve talked about before (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://eliainsider.com/2009/03/25/the-user-review-tipping-point/">link</a>). Second, one of the products in the Finance category most similar to ours went free. There has been a lot of discussion on the web about free applications versus paid applications and that the two customers aren’t the same. And this competitive application proved that. It didn’t take the developer long to realize he made a mistake, changed back to paid but disappeared from the Top Paid list, surfacing down in the 70s. (He’s since recovered and is back in the Top 20 but with a price at $.99 instead of $5.99.)</p><p>Meanwhile, our sales started to grow. Was it a better search position? The reviews? This other app disappearing? Increased sales increasing our Top Paid Finance App position that made us more findable and thus increased our sales? I have no idea which factor but the combination was working for us.</p><p>From March 19 to March 27 we quadrupled our daily sales and went from Top Paid Finance position #40 to our highest position at #18. Since then we have stayed between 20 and 23 Top Paid Finance Apps and our search positions kept getting better. FastFigures Finance Calculator is now at #25 for “calculator”, #6 for “finance calculator” and #4 for “financial calculator”. Best yet, we seem to have leveled out at a new baseline for sales and can work to increase them from here with outreach to our potential vertical market customers in finance, investment, business and real estate.</p><p><img src="http://www.google.com/base_media?hl=en&amp;fact=12e&amp;size=3&amp;q=http%3A%2F%2Fmobilesuccess.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F04%2Fitunes_position1.png%3Fw%3D450%26h%3D279&amp;dhm=71e9d7b2" alt="itunes_position1" title="itunes_position1" style="width:245px;height:152px"></p><p><b>Road Ahead</b></p><p>Obviously, we want to continue increasing sales as we are still 1/3 of breakeven. I now have enough data to predict the unit sales for a particular position in the Top Paid Finance apps. I can even tell what my competitors are selling every day. I do know that my daily targets for FastFigures Finance Calculator are attainable.</p><p>I do feel hemmed in on price, though. When I decided to release at $5.99, Mark Paul advised me to release at $9.99 as the data indicated. He argued that it would be hard to raise the price. He’s right but not for the reason he said. Now that I’m happy with our sales baseline, I don’t want to raise the price because I’m concerned about how it will negatively impact sales. (Reports I’ve read say any price increase will drop sales at least 25%). This issue — and the low AppStore prices in general — have forced me to re-think how we deliver the product. I decided to keep the existing, low $5.99 price and offer additional capabilities and power user features a la carte.</p><p>A second change is that it has become clear that we needed to separate scientific from finance from medical versions of the product. (My customers advised me of this, by the way, and I initially ignored them.) It is just too hard to be found in the AppStore with a broad product. So we’ll go niche and give our customers an alternative way to get the all-inclusive calculator.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" name="conclusions"><b>Conclusions</b></a></p><p>A few conclusions based on my first month in the AppStore:</p><ul><li><b>Reviews</b>: If you don’t have 20 people ready to buy and review when you launch in a single AppStore country, don’t bother. The reviews are critical to any application’s success.</li><li><b>Professionalism</b>: Having a professional design and web site help make the sale. Also, producing a series of videos help make the case since there are no trial versions.</li><li><b>Quality</b>: Hire a designer and go for a high-quality look. It’s expected.</li><li><b>Process</b>: Get the paperwork done early. Make sure you understand the entire process.</li><li><b>Monetizing</b>: Think more broadly about your application than just a single product. Can you develop similar products that the same customers will need and connect them somehow? Can you sell add-ons? Can you derive income from a web/mobile combination?</li><li><b>Saturation</b>: The AppStore is saturated. Getting press for your application is very hard. There are very few instant-riches stories. They are clearly the exception to the rule.</li><li><b>Pricing</b>: Certain prices are too cheap for certain customers. And free is always too cheap for customers that would normally pay. Do your pricing research and embrace the data.</li><li><b>Niches</b>: Focus on doing well with a single product in an individual AppStore category. If you are making an application that appeals to students and to travelers, think about making it two apps: one that would do well in the Travel category and one that would do well in the Education category.</li></ul><p>Some conclusions regarding <b>Top Paid and Search</b>:</p><ul><li><b>Country-Specific</b>: Top Paid and Search results are different for each country’s AppStore.</li><li><b>Getting Sales</b>: When it comes to numbers, there are only three that will impact your customer’s purchase decision: Top Paid position for your respective category, ranking for Search terms, and the number of reviews. Figure out how to rank high in all three.</li><li><b>Top Paid Ranking</b>: Top Paid position for a specific category is critical. In the iTunes Store it’s Top 20 (and it’s not obvious how to see more). In the AppStore on the iPhone, it’s Top 25 and easy to see another 25. If you are beyond 50, you won’t be found at all.</li><li><b>Top Paid Position</b>: I believe — but can’t confirm — that Top Paid is based on more than just raw numbers of sales in a given country’s AppStore. Clearly there are other factors at work and maybe based on some rolling average.</li><li><b>Search Position</b>: Search positioning is based on some combination of number of reviews, review star ratings, sales and search terms.</li><li><b>Search Terms</b>: Search is word-based. The AppStore search does not know that “finance” and “financial” are the same.</li></ul><p>Can you make money in the AppStore? Yes. But the competition is fearce and it’s very hard to differentiate your product from others. My suggestion: Spend plenty of time up-front figuring out how to get above the noise with factors you can control.</p></div></div>

• The User Review Tipping Point

  Posted March 25, 2009 by Elia Freedman
  Categories: Infinity Softworks, Success Factors
  Tags: AppStore, FastFigures, iPhone
  

  I read a very interesting report recently on how user reviews act as a tipping point. (link is here) The long and short of it is that 20 reviews seemed to be the tipping point. When you get to around 20 reviews, it makes a big difference in people’s opinions.

  We hit 20 reviews in the U.S. iPhone AppStore last week and have seen our sales go up every day since. (Thanks to all of you who reviewed it. Here’s a press release on the topic.)

  Watching sales of FastFigures Mobile has been a roller coaster. We started off strong but of course faded as we left the “What’s New” section and all of our faithful customers purchased. Then it was a matter of watching for bottom. It just kept getting a little worse every day. It was killing me!

  The biggest saving grace during that time was the wonderful things people were saying about FastFigures. I still can’t believe it. (This is version 1 folks! If you think it’s good, wait to see what I have in mind next!)

  As of this morning, we have 27 reviews, 26 of which are 4 or 5 stars! We had one 2 star rating and to be honest, I’m quite thankful for it. It was starting to look like I paid people to say nice things about us! (If you are someone who has tried it and don’t like it, it’s okay if you don’t review it at the AppStore, though. I’d rather you email me and tell me what you don’t like so I can fix it.)

  It took a week but we found bottom. I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out how people would find us and played with language to learn about the AppStore’s search mechanism. We made strategic decisions to change the way we were delivering the application, changing the name from FastFigures Mobile to FastFigures Finance Calculator in the process.

  And then these changes started to take affect. And sales steadied out. And it became clear that we had found a nice, steady bottom (and one I could live with). And — the best part — the anxiety subsided and I slept again.

  But then a funny thing happened. We hit 20 reviews in the U.S. version of the AppStore. Since then our sales have gone up EVERY DAY! And visions of actually making a living wage have returned! Let’s hope it isn’t just more bumps on this roller coaster. I could use a nice, steady uphill climb.
• <h2><a rel="nofollow" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Lessons Learned: One Month in the iPhone AppStore" href="http://eliainsider.com/2009/04/15/lessons-learned-one-month-in-the-iphone-appstore/">Lessons Learned: One Month in the iPhone AppStore</a></h2> <small>Posted April 15, 2009 by Elia Freedman<br> <b>Categories:</b> <a rel="nofollow" rel="category tag" title="View all posts in Infinity Softworks" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/infinity-softworks/">Infinity Softworks</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="category tag" title="View all posts in Uncategorized" href="http://eliainsider.com/category/uncategorized/">Uncategorized</a></small> <br> <b>Tags:</b> <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/appstore/">AppStore</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/calculator/">Calculator</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/fastfigures/">FastFigures</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/finance-calculator/">Finance Calculator</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/financial-calculator/">Financial Calculator</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/iphone/">iPhone</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/ipod-touch/">iPod Touch</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/itunes/">iTunes</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/sales/">Sales</a>, <a rel="nofollow" rel="tag" href="http://en.wordpress.com/tag/search/">Search</a><br> <div> <div><p>My article here is the story leading up to and including <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.fastfigures.com/mobiledetails">FastFigures finance calculator’s</a> first month in the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.fastfigures.com/apple">iTunes AppStore</a>. If you’re not interested in the story, feel free to <a rel="nofollow" href="http://eliainsider.com/#conclusions">jump to my conclusions at the bottom</a>.</p><p><b>Pre-Amble</b></p><p>We started developing FastFigures Financial Calculator for iPhone and iPod Touch in November of 2008 with a team of two people. I developed the UI; Rick developed the engine and back-end. We spent some time through the summer reading and learning Objective-C (which would have gone a lot faster if the NDA wasn’t in place), but real development started in November after a contract job we were working on ended.</p><p>My intention was to develop an offline companion to our online version of FastFigures. I started with a list of about 100 of my current customers that requested the product for iPhone. By the time we shipped, that list grew to 250. I emailed with this community about every two weeks, soliciting feedback, getting input, learning how they have used our products so I could make FastFigures better than they expected and, hopefully, have a bunch of customers ready to go at launch.</p><p><b>Pre-Launch</b></p><p>In retrospect the smartest thing I did before launch was start a dialog with my customers. As mentioned we had about 250 people requesting our products for iPhone. This community gave me endless feedback regarding their most important calculator templates, the structure of the application and features that they needed to have. My goal was to never accept just a feature request but instead to always ask why they wanted that feature as well. In the process, I learned more in three months of development than I did in the first 12 years of running Infinity Softworks about my customers and how they use the product.</p><p>The second smartest thing I did was hire a designer. Kelly Beile (web site <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.kellybeile.com">here</a>) did a tremendous job of adding a professional look to both the application and our web site. This, I believe, is more important on iPhone that it has ever been on any other mobile device before.</p><p>One of the major pre-release issues was pricing. We have demanded and received upwards of $50 to $150 for our applications in the past and price sensitivity tests had shown dropping the price didn’t increase sales significantly. I knew we were going to have to re-think pricing for iPhone as $10 is considered expensive in the AppStore. Again, we conducted a survey of these pre-release customers using a method perfected by <a rel="nofollow" href="http://synergy-usa.com/">Mark Paul at Synergy Consulting</a>. (While nothing replaces hiring him, his books are <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.synergy-usa.com/EntrepreneursSurvivalGuide-eBook.htm">here</a> and <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.attractmorecustomers.net/">here</a>.)</p><p>The price sensitivity data showed a starting price of $9.99 maximized revenue but I was concerned that these customers were too familiar with our products and wouldn’t represent the broader world of iPhone users. After agonizing over this for over a week, I decided to adjust the pricing based on some additional factors and settled on $5.99. This decision is proving to be both a good one and a bad one, and I struggle with selling our applications so inexpensively to this day.</p><p>One mistake I did make in these early days was not spending enough time making sure the paperwork was in order. This cost us two days in the end — two critical days when we would be high on the What’s New list of applications.</p><p><b>Launch</b></p><p>As mentioned before, I planned on launching two versions of FastFigures, a web-based version called FastFigures Online and a version that runs without an Internet connection for iPhone and iPod Touch called FastFigures Mobile. Each product would work for a wide variety of potential customers: real estate, finance, investing, science and engineering, math, medical and more. I wrote the copy with our part-time marketer, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.janetleejohnson.com">Janet Lee Johnson</a> based here in Portland, and got everything set up in the AppStore. We submitted to Apple on February 13, hoping for a February 18 release date but was rejected on February 17 with a very minor issue. It went back into review that same day and Apple signed off on February 22.</p><p>And this is where not understanding the process hurt us. First, I didn’t realize that there was some additional paperwork that needed to be completed. That was completed on the 23rd. Then, once everything is signed off, it takes 24 hours to show up in the AppStore. Finally on the 24th, I’m looking for the application in What’s New and can’t find it! Panic struck until I went to the second page of applications and saw it listed as released on February 18.</p><p>Apple launches your app on the earlier of their sign-off date (Feb 22 in this case) or our requested launch date (Feb 18). I didn’t think to change the desired launch date, figuring the date would be the date it actually appeared in the Store. Once I figured this out, I was able to adjust the date back to Feb 22 but by then it cost us two days of coverage on the front page of Apple’s iTunes AppStore.</p><p>The good news was we had these 250 people ready to go (not all of which purchased). This got us off to a great start and gave us product reviews and sales we wouldn’t have had otherwise. We started out at number 22 Top Paid Finance apps and stayed in the Top 25 for our first week. But once sales slowed down, it became apparent quickly that we would not be found in the AppStore. Adjustments needed to be made.</p><p><b>Month One</b></p><p>We were quickly learning that the noise level for iPhone applications was very loud. Janet was doing outreach to iPhone bloggers and others. We weren’t getting much of anywhere. In the meantime, it was clear that if I didn’t fix our search issues in the AppStore, we would just disappear. The free fall started the first week of March, just as we left the What’s New listing. On March 3, we were at 30 in Top Paid Finance apps. Four days later we were at #40; two days after that #45. We bottomed out at #50 on the 14th of March.</p><p>I was also watching a few search terms. For us, specifically, that was “calculator”, “finance calculator”, and “financial calculator”. We didn’t show up for any of these terms on March 2, when I made the first description change. Realizing that we needed to be less generic in description and capability, I renamed the application to FastFigures Financial Calculator. We showed up on all three the next day: #59, 19 and 6, respectively. A week later we had slipped to oblivion levels, however, at #74, 26 and 8. At this point, I changed the description again, to FastFigures Finance Calculator (finance calculator is searched for in Google far more often than financial calculator), which caused us to disappear from “calculator” and “financial calculator” searches. I made the last (and final) changes two days later, peppering the first description paragraph with the term “financial calculator”. That finally did it, getting us back on the list for all three and starting to see a climb up the ranks.</p><p>The beauty of low sales numbers is that I felt more comfortable experimenting. If we were doing great sales, I would have been hesitant to play with the search positions. We bottomed out on March 14, 1/3 of our original projections, and stayed close to this bottom per day until the 19th.</p><p>Meanwhile, those who purchased LOVED FastFigures. We had great reviews. On March 19, we passed 20 reviews in the U.S. Store, receiving 18-5 stars, 2-4 stars and a 2-star from reviewers.</p><p>Two things happened around March 19th that changed our fortunes. For one, we hit that magical 20 review level I’ve talked about before (<a rel="nofollow" href="http://eliainsider.com/2009/03/25/the-user-review-tipping-point/">link</a>). Second, one of the products in the Finance category most similar to ours went free. There has been a lot of discussion on the web about free applications versus paid applications and that the two customers aren’t the same. And this competitive application proved that. It didn’t take the developer long to realize he made a mistake, changed back to paid but disappeared from the Top Paid list, surfacing down in the 70s. (He’s since recovered and is back in the Top 20 but with a price at $.99 instead of $5.99.)</p><p>Meanwhile, our sales started to grow. Was it a better search position? The reviews? This other app disappearing? Increased sales increasing our Top Paid Finance App position that made us more findable and thus increased our sales? I have no idea which factor but the combination was working for us.</p><p>From March 19 to March 27 we quadrupled our daily sales and went from Top Paid Finance position #40 to our highest position at #18. Since then we have stayed between 20 and 23 Top Paid Finance Apps and our search positions kept getting better. FastFigures Finance Calculator is now at #25 for “calculator”, #6 for “finance calculator” and #4 for “financial calculator”. Best yet, we seem to have leveled out at a new baseline for sales and can work to increase them from here with outreach to our potential vertical market customers in finance, investment, business and real estate.</p><p><img height="279" src="http://mobilesuccess.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/itunes_position1.png?w=450&amp;h=279" alt="itunes_position1" title="itunes_position1" style="width:245px;height:152px" width="450"></p><p><b>Road Ahead</b></p><p>Obviously, we want to continue increasing sales as we are still 1/3 of breakeven. I now have enough data to predict the unit sales for a particular position in the Top Paid Finance apps. I can even tell what my competitors are selling every day. I do know that my daily targets for FastFigures Finance Calculator are attainable.</p><p>I do feel hemmed in on price, though. When I decided to release at $5.99, Mark Paul advised me to release at $9.99 as the data indicated. He argued that it would be hard to raise the price. He’s right but not for the reason he said. Now that I’m happy with our sales baseline, I don’t want to raise the price because I’m concerned about how it will negatively impact sales. (Reports I’ve read say any price increase will drop sales at least 25%). This issue — and the low AppStore prices in general — have forced me to re-think how we deliver the product. I decided to keep the existing, low $5.99 price and offer additional capabilities and power user features a la carte.</p><p>A second change is that it has become clear that we needed to separate scientific from finance from medical versions of the product. (My customers advised me of this, by the way, and I initially ignored them.) It is just too hard to be found in the AppStore with a broad product. So we’ll go niche and give our customers an alternative way to get the all-inclusive calculator.</p><p><a rel="nofollow" name="conclusions"><b>Conclusions</b></a></p><p>A few conclusions based on my first month in the AppStore:</p><ul><li><b>Reviews</b>: If you don’t have 20 people ready to buy and review when you launch in a single AppStore country, don’t bother. The reviews are critical to any application’s success.</li><li><b>Professionalism</b>: Having a professional design and web site help make the sale. Also, producing a series of videos help make the case since there are no trial versions.</li><li><b>Quality</b>: Hire a designer and go for a high-quality look. It’s expected.</li><li><b>Process</b>: Get the paperwork done early. Make sure you understand the entire process.</li><li><b>Monetizing</b>: Think more broadly about your application than just a single product. Can you develop similar products that the same customers will need and connect them somehow? Can you sell add-ons? Can you derive income from a web/mobile combination?</li><li><b>Saturation</b>: The AppStore is saturated. Getting press for your application is very hard. There are very few instant-riches stories. They are clearly the exception to the rule.</li><li><b>Pricing</b>: Certain prices are too cheap for certain customers. And free is always too cheap for customers that would normally pay. Do your pricing research and embrace the data.</li><li><b>Niches</b>: Focus on doing well with a single product in an individual AppStore category. If you are making an application that appeals to students and to travelers, think about making it two apps: one that would do well in the Travel category and one that would do well in the Education category.</li></ul><p>Some conclusions regarding <b>Top Paid and Search</b>:</p><ul><li><b>Country-Specific</b>: Top Paid and Search results are different for each country’s AppStore.</li><li><b>Getting Sales</b>: When it comes to numbers, there are only three that will impact your customer’s purchase decision: Top Paid position for your respective category, ranking for Search terms, and the number of reviews. Figure out how to rank high in all three.</li><li><b>Top Paid Ranking</b>: Top Paid position for a specific category is critical. In the iTunes Store it’s Top 20 (and it’s not obvious how to see more). In the AppStore on the iPhone, it’s Top 25 and easy to see another 25. If you are beyond 50, you won’t be found at all.</li><li><b>Top Paid Position</b>: I believe — but can’t confirm — that Top Paid is based on more than just raw numbers of sales in a given country’s AppStore. Clearly there are other factors at work and maybe based on some rolling average.</li><li><b>Search Position</b>: Search positioning is based on some combination of number of reviews, review star ratings, sales and search terms.</li><li><b>Search Terms</b>: Search is word-based. The AppStore search does not know that “finance” and “financial” are the same.</li></ul><p>Can you make money in the AppStore? Yes. But the competition is fearce and it’s very hard to differentiate your product from others. My suggestion: Spend plenty of time up-front figuring out how to get above the noise with factors you can control.</p></div></div>

2 more annotations...

• other devs

  • 2D Boy
  • Antair Games
  • Appy Entertainment
  • Flashbang Studios
  • Freeverse
  • Imangi Studios
  • Imitation Pickles
  • Intuition Games
  • Lazy 8 Studios
  • Pocketwatch Games
  • Snappy Touch
  • The Behemoth
  • Unknown Worlds
  • Wolfire Games

• other devs

  • 2D Boy
  • Antair Games
  • Appy Entertainment
  • Flashbang Studios
  • Freeverse
  • Imangi Studios
  • Imitation Pickles
  • Intuition Games
  • Lazy 8 Studios
  • Pocketwatch Games
  • Snappy Touch
  • The Behemoth
  • Unknown Worlds
  • Wolfire Games

• A Flurry Of Market Data

  by Dan Grigsby on April 28, 2009 · 2 comments

  

  What can a sampling of 100 applications and 8-million consumers on four platforms tell us about the smartphone application market?

  The mobile analytics firm Flurry crunched the numbers; we’ll highlight the results:

  Platform

  There are three numbers that matter for smartphone application platforms: (1) number of developer on a platform, (2) number of applications for a platform, (3) the platform’s market-share.

  
  
  

  A pair of observations:

  1. Android developer- and application-numbers are disproportionally high compared to its market-share. Hypothesis: In a way, because of its openness, Android is the hacker’s (positive connotation) platform. This attracts developers. Unfortunately, the market-share number isn’t significant enough to move Apple to be less restrictive.

  2. Blackberry app usage doesn’t commandeer a pixel-wide swath in the graph; I’ll be keeping this chart at the ready to dissuade prospective contract customers interested in supporting both iPhone and Blackberry.

  Daily Application Category Usage

  

  If you want to correlate usage and downloads, you could try to pair this data with the downloads survey-data from by Compete, reported here earlier.

  The Games Segment

  Flurry didn’t attempt a full market analysis on the game segment. Instead, they provided sales and lifecycle data on on a pair of paid puzzle games whose whose free/lite counterparts reached the #1 overall app ranking.

  
  Downloads

  Neither of the apps are $0.99 games: Game 1 sells for $2.99, Game 2 for $5.99. The former made over $450,000 in eight weeks; the latter topped $1,050,000 in eight weeks.

  Finally, they provide some additional evidence to the common wisdom that a game’s lifetime is about three months:

  

• A Flurry Of Market Data

  by Dan Grigsby on April 28, 2009 · 2 comments

  

  What can a sampling of 100 applications and 8-million consumers on four platforms tell us about the smartphone application market?

  The mobile analytics firm Flurry crunched the numbers; we’ll highlight the results:

  Platform

  There are three numbers that matter for smartphone application platforms: (1) number of developer on a platform, (2) number of applications for a platform, (3) the platform’s market-share.

  
  
  

  A pair of observations:

  1. Android developer- and application-numbers are disproportionally high compared to its market-share. Hypothesis: In a way, because of its openness, Android is the hacker’s (positive connotation) platform. This attracts developers. Unfortunately, the market-share number isn’t significant enough to move Apple to be less restrictive.

  2. Blackberry app usage doesn’t commandeer a pixel-wide swath in the graph; I’ll be keeping this chart at the ready to dissuade prospective contract customers interested in supporting both iPhone and Blackberry.

  Daily Application Category Usage

  

  If you want to correlate usage and downloads, you could try to pair this data with the downloads survey-data from by Compete, reported here earlier.

  The Games Segment

  Flurry didn’t attempt a full market analysis on the game segment. Instead, they provided sales and lifecycle data on on a pair of paid puzzle games whose whose free/lite counterparts reached the #1 overall app ranking.

  
  Downloads

  Neither of the apps are $0.99 games: Game 1 sells for $2.99, Game 2 for $5.99. The former made over $450,000 in eight weeks; the latter topped $1,050,000 in eight weeks.

  Finally, they provide some additional evidence to the common wisdom that a game’s lifetime is about three months:

  

• MLB Nearing $1 Million In iPhone Revenue

  Dan Frommer|Apr. 27, 2009, 2:30 PM|1

  Print

  Tags: Mobile, Media, iPhone, MLBAM, Sports

  Major League Baseball's At Bat iPhone app is a hit -- and a money maker.

  The league tells us it's sold 130,000 copies of the $10 app so far this year. That translates to about $1.3 million in gross revenue. After Apple's 30% cut, MLB's take is about $910,000 so far -- with five months left in the season. (iPhone and iPod touch owners have also downloaded about 220,000 copies of the free At Bat Lite.)

  That's pretty good: While MLB has to invest some resources to develop the app, it's also repurposing a lot of products and content that it's already making for its Web and mobile sites, such as in-game video highlights, live game audio, and its Gameday in-game updates. Later this year, the league may include live video streaming in the app.

  Meanwhile, the rest of MLB's mobile business is growing nicely, too: MLB says it's served up 382 million pageviews to phones so far this season, up 254% from the same period last year.

  And its streaming services are selling well despite the crappy economy: MLB says more than 400,000 have signed up for its live game products, including MLB.TV ($80-110/year) or Gameday Audio ($15/year), through Sunday. That's up 46% over the same period last year.

• MLB Nearing $1 Million In iPhone Revenue

  Dan Frommer|Apr. 27, 2009, 2:30 PM|1

  Print

  Tags: Mobile, Media, iPhone, MLBAM, Sports

  Major League Baseball's At Bat iPhone app is a hit -- and a money maker.

  The league tells us it's sold 130,000 copies of the $10 app so far this year. That translates to about $1.3 million in gross revenue. After Apple's 30% cut, MLB's take is about $910,000 so far -- with five months left in the season. (iPhone and iPod touch owners have also downloaded about 220,000 copies of the free At Bat Lite.)

  That's pretty good: While MLB has to invest some resources to develop the app, it's also repurposing a lot of products and content that it's already making for its Web and mobile sites, such as in-game video highlights, live game audio, and its Gameday in-game updates. Later this year, the league may include live video streaming in the app.

  Meanwhile, the rest of MLB's mobile business is growing nicely, too: MLB says it's served up 382 million pageviews to phones so far this season, up 254% from the same period last year.

  And its streaming services are selling well despite the crappy economy: MLB says more than 400,000 have signed up for its live game products, including MLB.TV ($80-110/year) or Gameday Audio ($15/year), through Sunday. That's up 46% over the same period last year.

• I've been looking into the whole publishing industry, specifically the print-on-demand (POD) portion. Places like Lulu.com and iUniverse let you plop a couple of hundred bucks on the table, upload your PDF and a cover image and your book goes into Amazon for sale.
• I've been looking into the whole publishing industry, specifically the print-on-demand (POD) portion. Places like Lulu.com and iUniverse let you plop a couple of hundred bucks on the table, upload your PDF and a cover image and your book goes into Amazon for sale.