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iPad ads more lucrative than iPhone spots
Here's an interesting little finding regarding Apple's iOS devices -- Mobclix claims that for the month of July 2010, ads on the iPad were actually more lucrative than ads running on iPhone apps. The effective cost per thousand impressions is actually five times higher on the iPad than on the iPhone, which means that because there are fewer iPads around (but presumably ad rates are currently around even for the two devices), advertisers are actually paying much more to reach the same amount of people on the larger device as the smaller one. But that cost is paying off -- iPad users tend to spend about three times as much time playing with apps on their devices versus iPhone users of the same apps. Of course, given the brevity of a typical iPhone usage profile, that's still only about ten minutes more per app on the iPad. But it's quite clear already that the iPad presents a different use case, and that advertisers will have to consider the two almost completely different audiences. Keep in mind that the iPad is still in its relative infancy -- the iPhone has only been around for a few years, but we're still only talking about a few months (and even less than that, considering these numbers come from July) on the iPad. It'll be interesting to see how these two devices continue to diverge in the future.
3,266 iPad apps and counting
AppShopper is listing 3,266 iPad apps available at the time of this writing. That's slightly more than 100 apps added since this morning. As of the morning of April 4th there were a total of 3,122 iPad apps available in the App Store according to Mobclix, a mobile ad exchange. At launch yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported 2300 iPad apps available in the App Store. Of the 3,100+ apps Mobclix counted, 2,523 -- or roughly 80% of them -- were paid apps with the average price being $4.99. 942 of the iPad apps are games (804 paid, 138 free) and of the 154 book apps virtually all of them are paid. To put all the apps on your iPad would cost you a whopping $12,572.78. TechCrunch contrasts the iPad app numbers with the iPhone apps. Of the 180,000 iPhone apps, 75% are paid. TechCrunch also theorizes that the prices of most iPad apps should go down as developers seek a median level where they can achieve the highest profit possible. After all, selling a hundred thousand copies of your app for $1.99 is much better than selling five copies for $49.99.
eBooks outnumber games in the App Store
The number of eBooks in the App Store has surpassed the number of games for the first time, and the spread is widening. Mobclix, a mobile device advertising agency, reports that as of last month, there were over 27,000 eBook apps while games were relegated to the runner-up position of 25,400 apps. Over the last reported month, new introductions of eBook apps more than doubled that of games (158 eBook versus 71 game apps). There are a number of reasons being kicked around to explain this phenomenon. It's easier to churn out an eBook than a game app. There are more free eBook than gaming apps, since many of the eBooks are out-of-copyright classics or collections of free content; this lowers the cost of development. Once an eBook engine is built it's fairly trivial to use the framework for another book. Currently there are over 10 times more free eBook apps than paid ones. It's different in gaming where paid apps outstrip free ones by over 2 to 1. Note: One source contradicts another on the above point, so consider it removed. These eBook apps will, of course, work on an iPad, but the Apple idea is to have you use one eBook reader and that would be iBooks. Jason Kincaid of Techcrunch, admittedly with no background evidence, posits that there may be an eBook purge coming. It would be very un-Apple to have an iPad owner searching for a copy of Treasure Island, and letting them find over 25 apps with differing interfaces and many of them free. This could be confusing for new iPad owners, and more to the point, Apple can't monetize it. It doesn't sound unreasonable that Apple will do whatever it takes to make iBooks the eReader of choice at the expense of the plethora of current eBook apps. They will be doing it in the name of providing a simpler and more enjoyable user experience, but of course you can't pocket what you can't sell. It will be fascinating to watch the eBook market about two months from now, after the first iPads have been delivered, and to see what Apple has planned. [via The Guardian]
Mobclix beefs up metrics, iPhone devs make money
Mobclix has been providing an impressive amount of usage information to iPhone developers for only about six months now, but have already made it into the 2008 TechCrunch 50, won SeedCamp 2008, and been recognized as a leading provider of metrics and analytics reporting. According to Mobclix, 75% of the applications in which the analytics are implemented have made the Top 100 Free App list. When TechCrunch reported on Mobclix shortly after they launched in September of 2008, it was noted that "more aggregate data would be welcome." Well, that wish has been granted. Mobclix announced a major upgrade to their analytics and yield optimization advertising system for iPhone (and other mobile) app developers today. For the end user, it may come across as a little scary. Beyond just standard usage statistics, developers can create unlimited metrics, gathering information on everything from favorite colors to what level you last conquered in their game. The data is all gathered anonymously, and your consent is required, so don't worry about Big Brother yet. The benefit to the average user of ad-supported iPhone applications is that highly targeted advertising may actually yield a connection between the user and a vendor in whom they'd actually be interested. Mobclix also provides an in-app comment system to directly connect users with developers, providing feedback which is exponentially more useful than App Store comments.
