Selling Iphone Apps on The App Market
A Quick Look at Selling iPhone Apps on the App Store
An Ever Expanding Marketplace. Since it was first opened,software developers have been flocking to the iPhone app store in an attempt to catch a piece of the action. Why is the app store generating such a craze on both the developers’ and consumers’ sides of the market? The app store is uniquely designed to facilitate big sales of mobile software in a way that’s potentially very lucrative for developers and meanwhile very satisfying and easy for end users. Its model of mobile micro transactions – that is, offering users the ability to purchase and download new apps from anywhere they have an internet connection for as little as 99 cents a pop – has taken off to such a degree that market analysts project the mobile app arena to reach a net worth of over billion by the year 2013.
Instantaneous Delivery Anywhere. The beauty of the iPhone app store is that customers are essentially plugged in wherever they go. Wireless connections and data networks such as 3G and, soon, 4G allow app buyers to make purchases on the road at the push of a button. A buyer first signs up for an iTunes account and therein establishes one of several methods of payment, such as a credit card or bank account. When making a purchase, a user first logs into their iTunes account via their iPhone or iPod Touch and, in doing so, finalizes the purchase. This instantaneous method of making purchases has defined a new paradigm of convenience and driven iPhone app sales off the charts. It’s known now that, in the year 2009, Apple’s app store averaged a monthly sales figure of 0 million.
Seeking Approval From the Right Places. Developers hoping to sell apps on the iPhone app store must first submit their content to Apple for approval. Apple receives about 8,500 new approval seeking applications each week, but has vowed as of the start of 2010 to update their approval process to get new apps into the store and available for purchase faster than ever before.
Community Spirit. One of the innate features of the app store which helps to drive sales and reward the best developers is the app store’s built-in community functions. Each app being browsed by potential buyers comes complete with recent critiques written by actual consumers. This feature helps to promote the best apps because customers will rate their favorite apps very highly and include accolades and praise in their reviews. This is some of the best advertising available, as potential buyers read these reviews very carefully and are likely to trust a fellow consumer’s take on a particular product. Meanwhile, a fun and lucrative feature known as the top-50 list allows the software which is consistently rated the highest to receive a spotlight position on the top-50 apps list. Buyers can even sort their own favorite genre of software or game into a top-50 list to view the cream of the crop.
Written by Zack Proser
Unwashed Jester
