RIM has announced that BlackBerry App World, their Apple App Store clone will be offering apps at the minimum starting price of $2.99 at launch, with some apps going for as much as $9.99 each. While free is always an option, RIM is taking a huge risk with their premium pricing model. Pricing that has suffered push-back from the majority of iPhone users accessing the iTunes App Store.
"I can't remember the last time I bought an app for more than $.99 cents," said Seattle iPhone user Gary Pancetta, "I'm willing to take a risk on a few apps a week for a buck, otherwise I'm second guessing if what I get is really worth paying double or sometimes even more."
Thousands of quality iPhone applications can be purchased for as little as $.99 each which has quickly become a thorn in the side of many developers feeling pressured to compete for a buck or suck it. The $.99 app pricing follows what many iTunes users have been accustomed to paying for single MP3 downloads, an expectation that has quickly carried over to the App Store.
"There is likely to be a big difference in the demographic of Apple app store users and BlackBerry App World," speculates Rana Sobhany, vice-president of marketing for Medialets, a mobile advertising and analytics firm. "And the business users demographic of BlackBerry users could be a reason why the company has set a higher minimum price point." Source: Wired
CrackBerry junkies should also know, to purchase apps from BlackBerry App World you'll need a PayPal account. Apple uses its convenient iTunes payment system while G1 is linked to Google Checkout. In addition, App World applications cannot be stored on or run from an SD card. Downloading of applications to an SD card are currently not permitted by RIM. So device storage does matter.
Competitors like Research in Motion, Google, Microsoft and Palm can certainly benefit from Apple's mistakes as the iTunes App store model works through its growing pains. But the downside will be trying to catch up to Apple's massive lead and expertise in the market. Making the recent mad scramble by these mobile competitors to launch their own app store clones appear a bit more desperate by design. Why didn't RIM think of launching an app store concept long before Apple ever did?
It's called a lack of innovation, that's why.
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