Is the App Store pricing pinching developers?

Those of us who have had the opportunity to browse the App Store have seen that most of the Apps are either 99 cents or are free. Yes, there are applications that cost more and are just better than the cheaper counterparts, but, for the most part, we are in the 99 cent or free arena. Well, Craig Hockenberry has sent a letter to the venerable CEO of Apple. In this letter, Hockenberry claims that the “ringtone app,” or the 99 cent application, is crippling developers such as himself by sacrificing quality to make the applications as cheap as possible. I would have to agree with him on this. How do you make any money as a developer if you put, say, six months of production hours into a project, and in order to make your money back you need to sell 200 thousand downloads? Does not seem to realistic.

Well what about the higher priced applications? The same theory applies I think. If you put 9 to 12 months worth of production hours into a project and sell the app for $4.99 or $9.99, you would only need to sell maybe 100 thousand downloads (maybe less) to break even or, dare I say it, make any money.

Hockenberry goes on to say “I’ve been thinking about what’s causing this rush to the 99¢ price point. From what I can tell, it’s because people are buying our products sight unseen. I see customers complaining about how “expensive” a $4.99 app is and that it should cost less. (Do they do the same thing when they walk into Starbucks?) The only justification I can find for these attitudes is that you only have a screenshot to evaluate the quality of a product. A buck is easy to waste on an app that looks great in iTunes but works poorly once you install it.” I think that hits the nail right on the head. If I cannot test an application before I buy, I might be more inclined to spend just 99 cents versus $2.99, $4.99, or even $9.99 when all I have to go on is reviews.

Anyway to look at it, the aggressive pricing in the App Store is both a good thing and a bad thing. For us the consumers, I say it’s a good thing, it keep things affordable and cheap if we happen to buy a dud. As for developers, I think Mr. Hockenberry has a very valid point. What do you think?

Via [furbo.org]