Mac App Store sales


A blog post from developer Sam Soffes has been making the rounds after he disclosed how little money his app made when it rose the sales chart. The $5 app was #8 paid app in the USA, but only generated $302 in net revenue. It should be noted that the app has actually risen to #3, likely due to some free publicity on Soffes' blog post.

That number is surprisingly low, but that doesn't really shock me that much. I really like the App Store for making it easier to update and reinstall for apps. When I want to install something on a different computer, I just have to log into the app store and click on purchases. Plus, you've got the whole family purchases thing that can be really handy.

But really, I just don't buy a lot of new Mac software anymore. And when I do, it seems like it's still buying directly from developers. And if there is an option for either an App Store or developer purchase, I'm always going to go directly in case there's a future discounted upgrade available. Currently there's no way to do discounted upgrades in the App Store.

I think mobile app stores are just unique thing where people are willing to drop a few bucks to try out a new app. And there are a ton of apps that fit that criteria with many added daily. That doesn't really translate to desktop software. Redacted sells for $5, which is still in the impulse range, I think, that we see on iOS, but most Mac apps in the top list cost much more. Knowing that desktop software costs more, i think people simply don't spend time browsing to discover new apps, even if they are near iOS app store prices. Plus, there are 10's of millions of more people buying new iPhones every quarter, which certainly is a factor.