Marco Arment’s article on The Two App Stores has sparked a lot of discussion. Go ahead and read it.

Marco’s post reminded me of TapTapTap’s article on the sales of Convert ($150,000). In it, they suggested that iPhone app developers quit whining and recognize that there are two models on the app store: traditional and hit-based. In order to succeed, you need to choose which model to use and stick with it.

Recognize that you are not going to make a living with a 99 cent app unless its a spectacular hit and gets into the top 100. After the initial success, your going to need to make another hit to stay in business. Its a risky proposition but one that TapTapTap has mastered (they’ve released a spectacular hit every few months).

If you can’t build significant buzz, if you’re not willing to pour lots of time and money into marketing, and if your app doesn’t have wide appeal don’t kid yourself into thinking you can make any reasonable amount of money by selling it for 99 cents.

Know what your getting yourself into. If your chances aren’t good for a hit, build an app that can be profitable without making it to the top 100. Go the traditional route; use traditional marketing methods; and sell for a traditional price (over $5). Otherwise, don’t plan to make a million on the app store and certainly don’t quit your day job.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 2:33 pm and is filed under iPhone App Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.