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[nop_90]

The Great App Bubble

http://www.fastcompany.com/1684020/the-great-app-bubble
Part I found interesting

Apps aren't very profitable for Apple either. According to Apple Insider, "Apple has long maintained that the App Store isn't meant to be a profit generator, as much as a means of attracting customers to the iPhone and iPod touch." The App Store's gross profits amount to just 1 percent of Apple's total gross profits.

[perkiset]

I think "bubble" is hyperbolic, but I'd definitely agree there will be a correction.

Stats from other places agree that the majority of apps are used for as little as 5 days then ignored. I find this myself. But (at least for me) it is similar to the tools in my shed: I don't need them ever, until I need them. Ergo, the AAA Restaurant Deals app that is in my miscellaneous, last page apps (for the dregs) still sits on my phone because I've used it 2 or 3 times since I got it. It was free and I have no day-to-day need, but I know its there. Similarly, even my network testing apps (a whole page worth!) are rarely used, until I have a need, at which point the whole day is about all of them.

IMO the so-reported app bubble looks much like the internet of, say, 2001. If you know how to make noise, you're going to make bank. The thing that is wrong about the article is that they take the total amount paid out and divide it among all apps. The commissions are HUGELY disparate, most making nothing, some making bathtubs full of cash. So the investment bankers, understanding the notion of a website that might be popular for 6 months, use the same modeling technique to decide if they can noise-up an app long enough to make a profit.

It makes sense, although it is much like the original gold rush. Apple has posted that there's gold in them thar hills, and, conveniently, situated themselves as the makers of shovels, tents and bridges on the long road to the Klondike. SOME miners will get rich. several more will eek out a living. Most will go home to the imagined sound of PacMan when you lose.

"WHAH Whah whah whah..."