[Djblois]

[QUOTE=Fritzly;711606]

Originally Posted by Djblois

So let me get this straight Companies use sophisticated models using marketing data, economic data, etc.. to figure out what price they should sell at (I totally agree - this is how it is done)! But next you are telling me that either they get it right most of the time, or only the succesful businesses get it right most of the time, or you are a genius and only you get it right most of the time.
QUOTE]

You answered your question by yourself: succesfull companies figured it out most of the time, this is the reason why they are succesfull.
A perfect example of a company that did not figure it right is Sony with the PS3; in spite of the fact they now are lowering the price of the console the failure of pricing right in the first instance severely affected their financial results.

On the contrary, successful companies do not figure it out most of the time. Read the rest of my post. Of course it would be more financially sound to figure it out most of the time. And you answered your own question Sony which is a VERY successful company did not get it right with the PS3 like most companies do not get it right the first time. I mean if a company like Sony who has millions of dollars to figure this out can't get it right all the time, then how do you expect little companies who will write software for WM to get it right "most" of the time?

You are also not taking Product life cycles into account. Products normally start off higher when first created and then products get cheaper in their life cycle. Software companies do it a little differently. They create a newer version to keep the Product price higher. However, if the demand is not high enough to warrant any updates or it is a simple application that you really can't add much to it - then the price will generally fall as the life cycle moves on.

[Djblois]

[QUOTE=Fritzly;711606]

Originally Posted by Djblois

So let me get this straight Companies use sophisticated models using marketing data, economic data, etc.. to figure out what price they should sell at (I totally agree - this is how it is done)! But next you are telling me that either they get it right most of the time, or only the succesful businesses get it right most of the time, or you are a genius and only you get it right most of the time.
QUOTE]

You answered your question by yourself: succesfull companies figured it out most of the time, this is the reason why they are succesfull.
A perfect example of a company that did not figure it right is Sony with the PS3; in spite of the fact they now are lowering the price of the console the failure of pricing right in the first instance severely affected their financial results.

On the contrary, successful companies do not figure it out most of the time. Read the rest of my post. Of course it would be more financially sound to figure it out most of the time. And you answered your own question Sony which is a VERY successful company did not get it right with the PS3 like most companies do not get it right the first time. I mean if a company like Sony who has millions of dollars to figure this out can't get it right all the time, then how do you expect little companies who will write software for WM to get it right "most" of the time?

You are also not taking Product life cycles into account. Products normally start off higher when first created and then products get cheaper in their life cycle. Software companies do it a little differently. They create a newer version to keep the Product price higher. However, if the demand is not high enough to warrant any updates or it is a simple application that you really can't add much to it - then the price will generally fall as the life cycle moves on.

[Mastersoft]

$0.99 simply isn't viable on Windows Mobile whereas it is on the iPhone.

[jeisner]

Its all down to demos.. Apple don't make demos an easy option so people can price their apps at 99c and people will pay that just to try the application. On winmo we are used to having demos, so I don't think the 99c approach will generate anywhere near the sales it does on the iphone even (and especially) with an equally sized user base..

So I think either prices stay a little higher with demos.. OR .. We stop demos on the platform and sell apps for 99c and sell far more as people have to pay just to try the application..

[Djblois]

Originally Posted by jeisner

Its all down to demos.. Apple don't make demos an easy option so people can price their apps at 99c and people will pay that just to try the application. On winmo we are used to having demos, so I don't think the 99c approach will generate anywhere near the sales it does on the iphone even (and especially) with an equally sized user base..

So I think either prices stay a little higher with demos.. OR .. We stop demos on the platform and sell apps for 99c and sell far more as people have to pay just to try the application..

I agree completely with keeping demos. I would much rather try 100 applications and buy the ten that I want then buy 20 applications and only use 2. If you do not allow demos, so people have to buy your product at 99 cents in order to try it - what incentive is there to make it better? people are buying it. Yes in order to get good reviews they will make a better product but how much money can someone make till the reviews catch up to them.

[jdmichal]

The AppStore itself seems to create pricing pressure outside of the normal supply-demand and competition pressures. That is to say, "App X" must not only respond to demand and its competition, but also to other applications that it's not directly in competition with. If the vast majority of programs are $.99, than anything that's NOT $.99 becomes an exception, even if the application itself warrants that pricing. And then you get people saying, "$10 for an app?! NO WAI!"

Obviously there's those that will buck this; it's not a be-all-end-all factor. But it does play into the pricing equation I think. If you can't offer more than what people are conditioned to expect for $.99, then your program will not sell well unless you price it there.

[aristoBrat]

Originally Posted by jeisner

On winmo we are used to having demos

What? Quite a few of the non-99c apps in the App Store have free demo versions.

Some developers are having great success with a paid version of their app, and then a free, fully functioning version of the same app that generates the developer income via a small strip in the screen that shows an ad.

[whydidnt]

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but the ilium software blog has an interesting post from a developers perspective on mobile applications that is quite relevant to the conversation. The Apple Difference Ilium Software Blog Seems they think the Apple model of low cost/high volume is here to stay, primarily because Apple has finally gotten the word out that you CAN install applications on your mobile device thru their app-store advertising.