Sam Oliver
At a developer's conference in Amsterdam, new RIM CEO Thorsten Heins was joined by vice president of developer relations, Alec Saunders, who declared App World to be the second-most-profitable mobile platform. He said that's based on the fact that RIM has more paid downloads available than the Android Market, where most software options are free, according to PaidContent.org.
Saunders also said that 13 percent of all application publishers on BlackBerry App World have made $100,000 or more. Those profits come from 60,000 applications that are available on App World.
Of course, BlackBerry's numbers pale in comparison to Apple, which is far and away the mobile application leader with more than 550,000 applications available for iOS, including more than 170,000 specifically designed for the iPad. Officials also announced in Apple's last quarterly earnings conference call that the App Store has now paid out over $4 billion to developers.
While Apple's market domination for paid mobile applications is no surprise, RIM's claims that its BlackBerry App World is more profitable than the Android Market is unexpected, particularly considering the company's recent struggles that contributed to its co-chairmen and CEOs stepping down. Developer Shaun Austin speculated via Twitter that RIM's BlackBerry platform doesn't attract "hobbyists" as much as more popular platforms like Apple's iOS or Google Android.
RIM also announced that its App World sees 6 million downloads per day, totaling 2 billion total downloads as of last month. In comparison, the iPad alone is estimated to have seen 3 billion downloads as of early January, while the iOS App Store topped 10 billion total downloads more than a year ago.
Heins, who took over as CEO of RIM last month, said on Tuesday that 65 percent of the population of Europe, the Middle East and Africa are still using feature phones, which he believes gives RIM an opportunity to regain some ground lost to iOS and Android. Though RIM was once dominant in the corporate world, it has lost traction there with major companies like Halliburton, as AppleInsider exclusively reported this week that the energy service corporation plans to phase out thousands of employee BlackBerrys and switch to Apple's iPhone.
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37 Comments
Huh. I never would have guessed that.
1) 60k sounds like a solid number for a platform. Now lets see if they can create a good device and find a foothold in the market this late in the game.
2) They even beat out Android Market despite there low numbers in everything. Explain to me again how Android is winning?
Huh. I never would have guessed that.
Read the wording carefully. 13% of developers have made $100 K or more. If they've been selling the app for 10 years, that's only $10 K per year. And if they've been selling 10 apps for 10 years, that's only $1 K per app per year.
I'm not surprised that a small number of RIM developers make a huge amount of money. 13% making $100 K over multiple years may not be all that impressive.
1) 60k sounds like a solid number for a platform. Now lets see if they can create a good device and find a foothold in the market this late in the game.
2) They even beat out Android Market despite there low numbers in everything. Explain to me again how Android is winning?
Apparently, to a lot of people, market share = winning.
Why people believe that, I have no idea. But lots do apparently.
Read the wording carefully. 13% of developers have made $100 K or more. If they've been selling the app for 10 years, that's only $10 K per year. And if they've been selling 10 apps for 10 years, that's only $1 K per app per year.
I'm not surprised that a small number of RIM developers make a huge amount of money. 13% making $100 K over multiple years may not be all that impressive.
I read the word earn and assumed that was on a yearly average or for the past year. I think you're right.