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RIM must be very confident that nobody will earn more than $1000 from a BlackBerry app in order to make an offer like this. Either that or they are just trying

by dfrey 14y ago

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

ajross 14y ago
Actually, this sounds like a good idea to me. The BB ecosystem, broadly, has the system architecture to compete with Android and iOS but it lacks the app availability to make it attractive to customers. Apps have a long tail: there are a small number of hits (Angry Birds, say -- or things like the Facebook app) which have the cash available to develop on multiple architecture already. These will get an extra $10k, which they don't care about and which RIM can afford (who wouldn't pay $10k for Angry Birds on their platform?). Then there are the junk apps that live at the bottom of the list. These come in huge hordes, and are worthless. RIM doesn't want to pay for them and doesn't care about having them. They provide no value to Apple or Google either. But then there's a comparatively small group of "cool" apps that make everything work. This is the stuff that potential RIM customers notice is "missing". And the authors would love to see an extra $10k in sales, maybe enough to consider a port. And there aren't that many of them -- maybe a few thousand at most. So RIM is betting that if they blow a few million dollars on seeding this market that they'll make that back in extra handset sales in the near term. It might work. But I don't think they're at risk of losing a ton of money. How many apps actually make that much even on "first tier" platforms?
- azundo 14y ago
  The "Angry Birds" don't even get an extra 10k - if your app makes more than 10k you don't get the payout. I think this is an easy win for RIM for sure.
serge2k 14y ago
or they are hoping apps that hit 1k will hit 10 (or close) on their own.
HorizonXP 14y ago
I think people are misunderstanding what RIM is doing here. To be frank, RIM's promotion of this isn't doing them favours here either. The $10k revenue guarantee is a hedge. They're betting that if you make an app that satisfies their Built for BlackBerry criteria (see: https://developer.blackberry.com/builtforblackberry/documentation/criteria/checklist.html https://developer.blackberry.com/builtforblackberry/document...), it's good enough to sell 100 copies, and make at least $1k in revenue, then it's good enough to make $10k in revenue. They're hoping that your app will be so awesome that they won't have to pay you anything. Bear in mind, this guarantee is over a 12-month period, so there's plenty of time to make that $10k on your own. Furthermore, by being Built for BlackBerry, you get special exposure in the App World storefront. Personally, I think it's a fantastic idea, and I'm definitely going to be submitting an app or two. But I think a lot of people are taking it as "RIM is paying devs $10k to make an app." That simply isn't true. They're making you work for it, and then saying, "If after all of this work, you still don't make $10k, we'll front you the rest." So the incentive to promote your app past $1,000 in revenue is that if you're putting in this much work, you should really try to maximize your return.

by dfrey 14y ago

ajross 14y ago

Actually, this sounds like a good idea to me. The BB ecosystem, broadly, has the system architecture to compete with Android and iOS but it lacks the app availability to make it attractive to customers. Apps have a long tail: there are a small number of hits (Angry Birds, say -- or things like the Facebook app) which have the cash available to develop on multiple architecture already. These will get an extra $10k, which they don't care about and which RIM can afford (who wouldn't pay $10k for Angry Birds on their platform?). Then there are the junk apps that live at the bottom of the list. These come in huge hordes, and are worthless. RIM doesn't want to pay for them and doesn't care about having them. They provide no value to Apple or Google either. But then there's a comparatively small group of "cool" apps that make everything work. This is the stuff that potential RIM customers notice is "missing". And the authors would love to see an extra $10k in sales, maybe enough to consider a port. And there aren't that many of them -- maybe a few thousand at most. So RIM is betting that if they blow a few million dollars on seeding this market that they'll make that back in extra handset sales in the near term. It might work. But I don't think they're at risk of losing a ton of money. How many apps actually make that much even on "first tier" platforms?

azundo 14y ago
The "Angry Birds" don't even get an extra 10k - if your app makes more than 10k you don't get the payout. I think this is an easy win for RIM for sure.

serge2k 14y ago

or they are hoping apps that hit 1k will hit 10 (or close) on their own.

HorizonXP 14y ago

I think people are misunderstanding what RIM is doing here. To be frank, RIM's promotion of this isn't doing them favours here either. The $10k revenue guarantee is a hedge. They're betting that if you make an app that satisfies their Built for BlackBerry criteria (see: https://developer.blackberry.com/builtforblackberry/documentation/criteria/checklist.html https://developer.blackberry.com/builtforblackberry/document...), it's good enough to sell 100 copies, and make at least $1k in revenue, then it's good enough to make $10k in revenue. They're hoping that your app will be so awesome that they won't have to pay you anything. Bear in mind, this guarantee is over a 12-month period, so there's plenty of time to make that $10k on your own. Furthermore, by being Built for BlackBerry, you get special exposure in the App World storefront. Personally, I think it's a fantastic idea, and I'm definitely going to be submitting an app or two. But I think a lot of people are taking it as "RIM is paying devs $10k to make an app." That simply isn't true. They're making you work for it, and then saying, "If after all of this work, you still don't make $10k, we'll front you the rest." So the incentive to promote your app past $1,000 in revenue is that if you're putting in this much work, you should really try to maximize your return.