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Distimo finds higher prices, slower growth in the Mac App Store
Distimo has released its latest publication, containing an overview of the various app stores currently running, and the findings about the Mac App Store are quite interesting. While Apple's newest App Store is not quite up to the speed of the mobile platform, it's growing quickly -- the average top 300 Mac application generates roughly half the revenue of a top 300 iPad app. And there are other encouraging stats: the Mac App Store's average price (US$11.21) is by far the highest of the three stores, with the iPhone down at $1.57 and the iPad at $4.19. Two months after launch, the Mac App Store has 2,225 applications, which is fewer than the iPad's 8,099 applications at the same point in its cycle, but don't forget that the iPad already had the iPhone app market pushing it on right away at launch. Other interesting stats: the Mac App Store consists of 29 percent games, and in the most popular applications, 39 percent are games, which flies in the face of conventional wisdom that says there's no market for games on the Mac. Only 12 percent of the apps on the Mac App Store are free -- less than any other Apple platform. Finally, and perhaps most interesting, 17 percent of the developers of the top 300 apps on Apple platforms do publish their apps in more than one app store, either in Mac and iOS or on another platform. That means Apple's top developers are reaching out to other platforms -- but only 17 percent of them. For the other side, more than 80 percent of Apple's top developers, the Apple platform is the only one they're releasing their apps on. You can download the whole report over on Distimo's site.
RadioShack offers Atrix 4G for $150 on launch day, undercutting AT&T?
We'd heard rumors that Motorola's Atrix 4G would cost $150, but after AT&T priced the handset at $200 we figured they were all for naught. The Shack begs to differ: it's just revealed it will sell the modular Tegra 2 superphone on February 22nd for that original $150 price. That's with a two-year contract, of course, and a data plan on top, but that means you'll shave $50 off the sum AT&T is asking, or $20 off the combo deal with the (somewhat disappointing) laptop dock. Still, if history's any judge, we don't expect savings like this to be exclusive to RadioShack for long. [Thanks, Andrew F.]
Capcom and Sega join Valentine's Day sales on the App Store
Two more big companies have joined the flurry of sales popping up around Valentine's Day next week. Sega has jumped in with prices dropped on plenty of its titles, from US$2.99 down to 99 cents. Capcom has also joined the holiday celebration, bringing Street Fighter IV down to the incredibly low price of just 99 cents. As crazy as these deals are (and they are crazy, even though we saw lots of them in one form or another over the holiday season last December), I expect even more to show up by the end of this week. You don't have to look far to see why this is happening. EA led the charge with a huge 99 cent sale last quarter, and as a result, it showed record numbers both in terms of sales and profits. Both larger and indie game developers have seen that trend happen, so they seem to be forming a consensus of how to make big money on Apple's App Store. First, release premium games at a premium price, usually $9.99, especially when extremely popular franchises are ported over. Then drop the bottom out of the prices once that initial audience has sold through -- and when a new audience appears, like the Verizon iPhone owners this weekend -- conquering the charts and rocketing the numbers. We'll have to see how well that works over this weekend. Back during the last holiday sales, EA was pretty much on its own, and other developers had to catch up. This weekend, more companies are on top of the price drops; as a result, we might see fewer sales per company. But as always, it's an experiment, and when sales drop like this, we customers end up getting great games for super cheap.
Counterfeit version of open source game Lugaru HD being sold on Mac App Store
Another developer is offering Wolfire Game's Lugaru HD title on the Mac App Store for 1/5 of what the official game is selling for. How? As per the terms of the Humble Indie Bundle a while back, Wolfire decided to open source the game, though not its assets or characters, and the other version on the Mac App Store is an outright copy with assets included. Kotaku tracked down the developers, who apparently don't believe they've done anything wrong, saying that "we have every legal right to market and sell the software, and we feel that $1.99 is a fair price." The official version sells for $9.99. The worst part here is that Apple obviously approved the app, and as of this writing has not yet taken the app down. Wolfire hasn't yet heard back from Apple, and a spokesperson from the company says only that it's looking into the matter. Then again, issues of intellectual property are often left to developers to negotiate outside the App Store. This is an unfortunate instance where the App Store could clamp down on obvious infringement. The case seems pretty clear-cut -- Wolfire did open source its title, but it also made clear that it retained rights to all of the assets. Since it's fairly apparent that those are being used in the "unofficial" release, I'd expect Apple to take the offending version off of the store soon enough.
EA breaks records with App Store sales last quarter
While their sales may not add up to all 10 billion apps that the App Store has sold, Electronic Arts is boasting of amazing third quarter sales of its own iOS apps. Joystiq reports that COO John Schappert recently discussed just how well EA apps did during the holiday season. Schappert said, "The day after Christmas, the millions who were activating their new devices, EA held 14 of the top 25 paid apps for the iPhone and 15 of the top 25 paid apps for the iPad." Part of the reason EA did so well, other than offering titles iOS users were obviously willing to pay for, was that it dropped prices on most of its iOS apps in December, setting off a price war amongst developers on the App Store. EA's timing was impeccable, however, because Apple froze the App Store charts on December 23, leaving many EA titles right near or at the top of the charts for the remainder of the holidays. Very smart indeed.
Future Dell Streak 7 owners do the fine-print math, figure tablet will cost $330 max on contract
We've never seen an official price for Dell's Streak 7 tablet, but we can now readily guess what it will be -- thanks to T-Mobile's website, which is now two for two. You see, the wireless carrier typically lets you pay for devices in monthly installments rather than one lump sum, and StreakSmart discovered the former number is already printed below. As we're sure you've already discerned, that means four easy payments of $82.50 will buy you the Tegra 2-toting 4G tablet -- assuming the figure is correct -- and now that we've perfected our QVC salesman voice, we'll let you decide whether or not that's a deal.
GameFly's year-end sale deals up used games on the cheap
GameFly has begun its annual year-end sale and some of the prices on used games are just insane. We can tell you right now that you'll probably want to pick up Splinter Cell: Conviction on Xbox 360 for $9.99, Wet on PS3 for a buck more or MadWorld on the Wii for just $8.99 if you haven't played any of those yet. Unfortunately, some of the games on the list are already sold out but, if you hunt through it, there are bargains to find. With prices this low, we worry that the kids of GameFly employees will have to go without Christmas presents this year -- just so we can finally play The Saboteur for under 12 bucks.
App Store price war continues, prices drop pre-freeze
I don't know what kind of criteria we need to hit to call the official start of an App Store price war, but quite a few companies have taken EA's lead from last week and dropped their app prices down in an attempt to get them on the top app charts before this week's store freeze by Apple. Pocket Gamer has a pretty good list of sales going -- most Namco apps are on sale, along with the Pac Man titles and Bit Trip Beat. Halfbrick Studios has also dropped prices on their games, bringing Age of Zombies and Fruit Ninja down to just 99 cents and adding new content to both. Samurai II: Vengeance was also dropped to 99 cents, as we tweeted on @TUAW earlier today. A number of apps are trying to compete by adding features -- Touch Arcade has a good list of those, including Imangi's Max Adventure and Capcom's Arcade title as well as Sega's Chu Chu Rocket. The weekend hasn't changed EA's grip on the App Store charts -- 6 of the top 10 are still EA's titles, and Apple is actually running banners on the App Store advertising EA's big sale (which has some smaller developers a little miffed). We'll have to see what happens as the week goes on. The store freeze is set to go down on Thursday through Tuesday, December 28, so any apps in the charts then will stay there over the holiday weekend.
EA's App Store price war
As we previously reported, EA dropped prices on most of its iOS apps this week, and that sale sent shockwaves through the App Store's holiday season. We've seen tons of awesome new apps hit the store in the past few weeks, but if you look at the Top Paid apps right now, most of them are older EA favorites. EA currently has 6 of the top 10 apps on the store (with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 leading the way -- a big name title released for just 99 cents), and it's peppered throughout the rest of the top 50 as well. The biggest recent release on the list is probably Infinity Blade, which, despite extremely solid reviews and lots of press about its release, is currently down at number 16. In short, EA has kicked off a price war, and there's a time limit on this one. Apple is freezing the charts on December 23, which means that any games in the top 200 at that time will remain there over the all-important Christmas holiday, the point at which we've seen the biggest jumps in App Store sales (due to all the new hardware out there under the tree). At least one big publisher has already responded in kind -- Gamevil has announced a price drop on many of its apps, including the just-released Illusia and Nom, although it couldn't make it down to the 99 cent price that EA is offering. I would say look out for more big sales in the next few days. Companies have had a lot of success with App Store sales in the past, and as we get closer to that holiday freeze and the ensuing burst of sales, they're much more likely to start pulling out the big guns.
Goldman Sachs resumes Apple coverage, targets AAPL at $430
Investing firm Goldman Sachs has decided to start covering Apple's stock profile, and that news sent the AAPL stock price up to $325.06 this morning, a nice boost from the day before. And that's not all -- not only did Goldman Sachs pull AAPL into its reporting fold, but it was about as bullish as you can get on a stock, saying through a spokesman that "we believe significant growth and profit opportunities for this platform still lie ahead." The company had been covering Apple previously, but when that special analyst left the firm, it took them a while to find a replacement. But it looks like they've found someone else they feel is qualified to make a prediction. The company predicts a $430 price target for AAPL, so if any of you happen to fall into some money over this coming holiday, you'll now know just where to put it. (Note: this is not actual financial advice, obviously, and there's no guarantee of success in the stock market.) Apple seems to be the success story that keeps on growing -- AAPL has hit a few all-time highs in 2010, and the forecast is pretty sunny all the way around.
Golden Axe gets Bluetooth multiplayer, EA titles on sale
Sega sent us a note that Golden Axe for the iPhone has been updated -- the game now offers co-op over Bluetooth, so you and a friend can grab a weapon and get to killing goblins and ogres. And I think the game has finally gotten down to a US 99 cent usual price rather than a special sale, but a buck (or two bucks as the case may be, for two players) is cheap for a few good co-op games of Golden Axe. Additionally, EA has dropped prices on a few of its App Store titles, including Reckless Racing, EA Sports MMA, and our recent Daily App choice Heroes Lore III. The dev has deals going on its games all month long, so stay tuned for more to come. Oh, and one more tip: Gameloft is apparently giving away one game every single day over on its Twitter account in a promotion it's calling the Gameloft Advent calendar. There have been some good deals over there already, and will probably be more as the month goes on.
TUAW's Daily App: mGifts
It's Thanksgiving week, Black Friday is coming up quick, and that means that we're knee deep in gift-shopping season. If you don't quite know what you're getting or where to get it yet, mGifts can probably help. It can't actually recommend gifts for you (we here at TUAW can take care of that part), but it can help you track all of the gifts you need to buy, keeping separate listings by person, stores to shop at, and even prices of what you've purchased already. If you've got a lot of gifts to pick up, this could be just the thing to help you organize. Other features include the ability to share a list via email or attach photos for each gift or person. And while we're posting about the app for holiday gift giving, it actually works for any event, even customized birthdays or anniversaries. The app is a universal release and is only US 99 cents right now, on sale for the season.
Brazilian billionaire wants Apple manufacturing contract
AppleInsider reports that Brazilian billionare Eike Batista, who made his $27 billion fortune in the mining industry, is trying to convince Apple to have its products made in Brazil rather than by Foxconn in Shenzhen, China. He is currently constructing the Port of Acu in southern Brazil -- a $1.6 billion construction project -- encompassing 90 square miles of available space that he hopes will lure companies to Brazil for product assembly. If Apple doesn't bite, Mr. Batista says he is going to try to lure BMW to his new development instead. Apple has been using Foxconn as its product manufacturer for years, but a series of suicides by plant workers earlier this year lead to a cut in overtime hours and increased wages, which Apple itself was rumored (and Foxconn formally denied) to be subsidizing. Foxconn, part of Taiwan-based parent company Hon Hai, recently reported that it will be raising manufacturing prices, directly affecting Apple's costs. Not sure what that means for product prices next year, but Mr. Batista could be approaching Apple at a time it might be willing to talk about developing a new manufacturing plan. If that's the case, we wish him luck.
The Daily Grind: What do you think about lifetime subscriptions?
Champions Online made a bit of a splash when the development team announced that lifetime subscriptions would become available once again... albeit at the rather steep price of $299, right as the game is preparing to go free-to-play. It's not that it's a bad reward for players, but the price is a bit steep for many, and requires quite a bit of expected playtime for one to make back the investment. On the other hand, permanent access to a game is always tempting, and lifetime subscriptions always carry some weighty perks. Not many games offer a lifetime plan, but those that have done it have received mixed reviews. The up-front investment is a bit daunting, but the result is never having to worry about how you'll pay the subscription fees. Of course, some players prefer having that fee in their minds to help ensure they make the most out of their in-game time, rather than knowing the game is always there for whenever. Would you purchase a lifetime subscription to your favorite game? How much would you be willing to pay? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Apple's example Mac app prices land around $15-20
Reader Shane did a little zoom and enhance on Apple's promo image for the Mac App Store, and divined some potential prices for Apple's official apps. These same apps are the ones that set the pricing bar on the iPad, and so if these are real (and not just photoshopped in), then they're the first official indication we've gotten of just where Apple imagines pricing should be on the App Store. And where is that? Turns out they're pretty close to current software prices -- the iLife apps are priced out at $15, while the iWork apps are priced at $20, and when you add them all up, they cost about the same as the bundles you can buy in the Apple retail store. There's also a few other titles (which appear to be just placeholders, not official Apple software, unless they're going to premiere some new apps with the App Store) at various prices. There's a dice game called Roll 'Em which is priced for free, an app called Color Studio at $29.99, and another game called Fast Lane priced at just $4.99. So as you might expect, there will be prices all over the place. Just like the iOS App Store, developers will probably come up with all sorts of ways to fund and profit from their apps, so I'm sure we'll see some popular free games as well as premium specialized apps. But it sounds like Apple is aiming to hit about $15-20 for a standard full-featured Mac app. The question, then, will be what customers are willing to pay -- obviously each app is different, and each customer has their own priorities, but it'll be very interesting to see, as the Mac App Store debuts, just what happens to prices on this software.
Apple quietly cuts Mac mini prices in non-US markets
If your answer to the question "how would you change Apple's Mac mini" was to give it a lower price, rejoice, for Apple has listened to your sage advice. Unamerican markets around the world are waking up to the news that the mini desktop computer has shrunken in price -- by €100 in Europe and by £50 in the UK -- but the same can't be said about Apple's home turf, with the US starting price remaining stagnant at $699. This is probably in response to the dollar's continuing decline relative to other currencies, and the quiet nature of this pricing alteration leads us to suspect that it won't, sadly, be jumping to the good old USA any time soon. C'est la vie. [Thanks, Andre]
Analyst: Flash memory makes MacBook Air more profitable than bigger laptops
We already know the MacBook Air is thinner than most laptops, but it turns out that the stack of money it makes Apple isn't. An analyst named Brian Marshall of Gleacher & Co. says that the flash memory in the MacBook Air is one of the big places that Apple makes its money on the machine, reportedly costing Apple just $80. According to Marshall, this means the profit margin on the Air is between 28 and 37 percent; that's almost 10 percent higher than Apple's traditional MacBook lines. According to Andrew Rassweiler of iSuppli, also quoted in the story, Apple is now one of the world's biggest (if not the biggest) consumers of hardware flash memory, and its deals on memory are so good that the more memory in a device it makes, the better profit it will eventually see. Which, of course, is why the latest MacBook Air is so big on flash memory. Of course, Marshall's analysis doesn't take into consideration marketing or advertising costs, and Apple certainly has a sizeable advertising budget going into its devices. But when you consider pure hardware costs, Apple's positioned its "satellite laptop" to be a very strong product indeed.
Foxconn parent company raising prices for Apple, others
This is the downside of being Apple -- just as they get prices and costs to where they want them, those same prices and costs tend to go up again. Foxconn's parent company Hon Hai has reported that it will raise its manufacturing prices in China, directly affecting Apple's and other companies' costs over there. The company is reportedly trying to push profits up for the last quarter of this year, and aims to raise sales by as much as 30% next year. Of course, this probably isn't a surprise for Apple -- given how closely the company researches and follows component costs, this is likely something already baked in to their strategy (and even if it's not, $40 billion in cash tends to help out with unseen charges). But it's a clear reminder that costs aren't fixed for these devices at all -- just because Apple secures pricing on one processor or screen doesn't mean they'll have that same opportunity next year. It shows you a little bit of just how difficult it is to do what Apple has done, and coordinate all of these parts and companies to make a great product at a salable price.
Thrustmaster shipping HOTAS Warthog flight controller this month for $500
Already got a tween of your own begging and pleading for a decent gaming joystick from Santa? It's a common issue, or so we hear. Thrustmaster's HOTAS Warthog is probably one of the nicest around, and it looks as if it'll be landing on American doormats in plenty of time to procure a sufficient amount of wrapping paper. The ultimate flight sim stick will start shipping out by the end of this month for a wallet-melting $499.99, but thankfully for you, we were able to put together a lengthy list of impressions during a hands-on session back at E3. And hey, if this one ends up out of reach, at least you've always got Solipskier.
Time Warner fights 99 cent rentals, too
NBC isn't the only broadcast company that's fighting Apple on 99 cent iTunes rentals. Apparently Time Warner doesn't want in on the plan, either. That's according to its CEO Jeff Bewkes, who told a conference of media executives in London that Apple is underselling television content by providing cheap rentals to customers. "How can you justify renting your first-run TV shows individually for 99 cents an episode," he asked, "and thereby jeopardize the sale of the same shows as a series to branded networks that pay hundreds of millions of dollars and make those shows available to loyal viewers for free?" The argument seems to be that if Apple offers 99 cent rentals, there's no incentive for syndication on other networks. Why would you watch cable reruns when you could load up old shows whenever you wanted for just a buck? Of course, Bewkes is assuming that people will watch cable reruns rather than Netflix or other streaming services, which are already offered. By the time he comes around to singing Apple's tune, that syndication market worth "hundreds of millions of dollars" might not be doing so well. But Bewkes is holding his ground -- he says that before he makes a deal with a provider like Apple, it'll have to bring something new to the table: "These new entrants must meet a few criteria: They must provide consumers with a superior TV experience, and they must either support or improve the overall economics that funds and creates the programming in the first place." That's a lot of "musts." Bewkes may spend too much time looking for his own perfect solution before Apple's setup passes him by. [via TMO]
