Sales figures for the #2 iPhone app
taptaptap.com
taptaptap.com
- 4 team members (based on props in blog)
- $5,999 promotional MacBook contest
- high quality promo video, mkting material, etc. ($$)
- tap into large MacHeist audience
- TapTapTap was one of the first on the store, Classics and WhereTo? got them a nice following of fans.
I'm not trying to sound negative here, I think TapTapTap deserves everything they have coming for their amazing products. But this post is the tip of the ice berg, so try not to get disillusioned that the AppStore is lush with $$$ for indie developers... a majority of the time it's the exact opposite.
What's worth noting about TapTapTap is how they approached the launch of Covert and the level of polish in the 1.0 release. I really believe you need to come out with a BANG if you want an honest shot at the Top 100. Trying to get there with iterations is definitely an uphill battle.
That, my friends, is what it takes to succeed at the App Store.
I really believe you need to come out with a BANG if you want an honest shot at the Top 100. Trying to get their with iterations is definitely an uphill battle.
You can thank the App Store review process for that. If each iteration takes 2-6 weeks, you'd better put a LOT more into each try.
ps. Games aside, there are more craptastic apps in the Top 100 than quality.
Looks like a combination of suboptimal AA and an incredibly poor font colour choice which massively reduces the contrast, which is made even worse when the background is shaded in the Note bits.
That's only a $1M a year or so (before Apple gets their cut). Which is obviously good money, but it's not a huge win by any means (It's less than your average hedge fund manager makes). That's before you divvy it up among your team.
It's also unlikely they'll see that full amount, as some other app is going to come along and displace them eventually. So your dealing with movie economics here: You have to make all of your money in a month or so. Something along those lines anyways. Given the way the app-store functions, building a sustainable income stream seems rather unlikely. Certainly not at those numbers.
I guess I'm actually a bit shocked by how low those numbers are. I guess it's really an indication of how difficult it is when your forced to price apps at a sub $1 price point.