Study Finds Freemium Model Generates Big App Store Income

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18 points·rsmiller510··6 comments

This is how it's been since software first existed. Shareware.

When the Internet came along it was free software with a Buy Now button that took you to the website where you would purchase the full version or a license key.

I thought this was the "norm" for selling software, and it always has been.

Free to try, then you must buy.

Agreed. Took the words off my keyboard.

Barring a shareware style demo, I rarely make a leap of faith into a new software product. However, stellar reviews and/or at least a video example can make up for that. Maybe one exception would be updates to products I currently use.

[edited for clarity]

I too have found myself watching videos of apps (particluarly games) before buying now if they don't have a free version.

I was actually considering doing an experiment where I removed some of my free versions of apps from the Market and put in better videos to see if I could get the same results.... I doubt it, but...

TL; DR: "study found that in-app purchases [...] accounted for an astonishing 72 percent of Apple iphone app store revenue in July, up from 28 percent just a year ago. "

These results are based on iOS/Android data.

I'm curious to know if Mac App Store developers are having similar experiences.

This is mainly because games are the biggest category, and the top grossing games are "ville/village/pet" games that are free with upgrades.

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