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Others have noted that this is not an exact analogue to the App Store. Nevertheless, the thing that strikes me about this is that a lower percentage is not that
by raganwald 16y ago
Others have noted that this is not an exact analogue to the App Store. Nevertheless, the thing that strikes me about this is that a lower percentage is not that interesting.
If Apple need to lower their cut to keep developers on board, they can. They have "economies of scale" when it comes to developer mindshare just as they have economies of scale when buying screens and RAM. They'd rather not, of course, but they can.
Far more interesting is when the price crosses the Rubicon to free, as Google has done with Android. A business model that doesn't rely on charging money is disruptive. Can Apple go all the way to free? Maybe not.
- r00fus 16y agoConsidering Apple makes an order of magnitude more money on the devices than the software, I bet Apple could even do better than free if they saw the need. However, it goes against their core philosophy and company strengths. Apple will only go there if they are pressed to do so.
- endergen 16y agoIs that true? I was under the impression that that's changing. But I could see that, it would take a lot of paid apps to compare to the margins on hardware sales.
- macrael 16y agoTwice, Apple has said publicly that they are running the store at "just above break even." From last year: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/26/app_store_wildly_successful_but_not_hugely_profitable_for_apple.html http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/26/app_store_wild... and February: http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple_app_store_runs_just_above_break_even/ http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apple_app_store_runs_...