The Art of the App Store: The Business of Apple Development

CONSIDERING RISKS AND REWARDS

When people are required to pay before they play, there are certain expectations that differ along the continuum of price. The higher the price of the app, the more value it is expected to contain, often at the expense of entertainment. After all, virtually no one is going to pay $999.99 for even the best game. But if your app helps a user pass the bar exam, as in the “BarMax” app (by BarMax LLC), there may be some interest.

This is the reason games are priced lower than other apps. Although some forms of entertainment are expensive, in the end, if it's just entertainment, there are always nearly infinite options (many free, no less) that can accomplish virtually the same result. The same is not true with other types of apps such as productivity or utility apps, because these apps help you move forward as a human being. They give you points in real life, not just in the virtual world.

Let take a look at some of the main common risks and rewards for either meeting customer and niche expectations or not at these two price points.

Non-Premium Paid Apps

The most common price point for any paid app by a considerable margin is $0.99, currently making up around 28 percent of all apps (according to 148apps.biz). It's been said that this falls into impulse-buy territory, but the keyword here is “buy,” and, therefore, it's a lot more risky (relatively speaking) than a free app. True, once you make the decision to purchase, it's not much of a decision to go with ...