
iOS users buy more apps and pay more for them - jammur
http://gigaom.com/apple/ios-users-buy-more-apps-and-pay-more-for-them/
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flyosity
The most interesting (and possibly neglected) piece of information that I've
found when analyzing the economics & business of the App Store is just how
many apps are a slightly different take on an app that was popular a few years
ago.

Each month, millions of people are getting an iOS device and opening the App
Store for the first time and are unfamiliar with the apps that were popular 6
months ago, let alone 1-2 years ago. Doodle Jump is popular but it's actually
extremely similar to Super PapiJump, an iPhone game that was huge a few years
ago. Same exact mechanics, slightly different graphics & execution.

The mentality that you need an original, unique idea to succeed in the App
Store is rubbish. A common algorithm for succeeding in the App Store is take
Popular App A from 2009 and re-implement it with new graphics and perhaps an
additional gameplay mechanic and release it as Hopeful Popular App B in 2011.
Apps that were entertaining and popular (but have fallen off the charts due to
lack of updates) were based on game mechanics that are probably still alluring
to new audiences in 2011.

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jdq
_" A common algorithm for succeeding in the App Store is take Popular App A
from 2009 and re-implement it with new graphics and perhaps an additional
gameplay mechanic and release it as Hopeful Popular App B in 2011."_

Not disagreeing with you, but isn't this the common algorithm for most things?
I can think of TV Shows, movies, books, websites etc. that use the same
algorithm.

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tomjen3
There are actually a number of those algorithms, often it is either a
combination of two existing things (G+ is like Facebook but with asymetric
relationships like Twitter); a twist on something that already exist (Firefly
is a western but with an oppressive government set in space); or (but mostly
with physical things) something that is not as good as what was previously but
ordinary people can afford it (indoor plumbing which is not as good as
servants preparing your bath, but much much cheaper or the Ford T).

Sometimes it is a mixture of these.

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andos
I was expecting

“iOS users buy more apps and pay more for them _than Android users_.”

but instead this is about

“iOS users buy more apps and pay more for them _than last year_.”

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flyosity
Both are interesting in their own right, but I think it was a little
disingenuous to not announce the previous-year comparison right in the title
or the first paragraph. They really buried the lede in the article.

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sorbus
So, some quick math: The average user downloads 83 apps. 15 billion apps have
been downloaded. There are a bit over 180 million iOS devices. $2.5 Billion
has been paid out to developers; that's about $14 per user. Since the average
price of an app is $1.48, the average user buys 9.45 apps.

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sjs
Don't know if I agree with this conclusion that people will pay more for apps
now. What if iPad apps are raising the average? iPhone and iPod touch owners
may not have paid a cent more than they did the year before for any given app.

