Meta trends - what have we learned?

Posted by Dr Andus
Dec 27, 2013 at 02:45 PM

jimspoon wrote:
>But I will throw in one thing that interest me - look at the prices of
>mobile apps. $0.99, $1.99, $2.99, $4.99 etc. I guess simplictiy of the
>apps = low development costs, and with high volume the development of
>such apps can still be profitable.

But it raises the question of what exactly is being sold here. And it seems to me that the focus is more on selling the hardware than the software. E.g. the amount of money I spent on iOS apps in the last 3 years is dwarfed by the cost of buying my iPad 1.

However, one by one, the apps I bought are dropping support for my iPad 1 (which is many other respects still works fine), forcing me to shell out a significant amount of money for my next iPad once more.

In contrast, I also bought a top of the range PC 3 years ago (Win7, 64-bit, 8GB RAM), and I feel no need to replace it whatsoever. Since PCs have become mature and reliable products, now we are forced into a planned (?) obsolescence game with the tablet manufacturers, or rather, the OS developers (Apple, Google, and MS).

>I guess for complex desktop programs, the volume is relatively low, and
>the development can only be profitable if a much higher price is
>charged. Still, it does make me wonder if developers of complex desktop
>programs would actually maximize their profits by offering them at much
>lower prices that would stimulate greater demand.

The problem for traditional desktop software developers is that the whole nature of the game has shifted. It’s becoming a complex calculation/guess work as to which business model to go for, both in terms of platforms to develop for, and licensing regimes and pricing strategies to go for. My guess is that the successful ones will be those who will be able to develop an eco-system of sorts, with support for multiple platforms (inc. mobile), syncing, web access, and possibility for other developers to write scripts, add-ons etc.