One-time app purchases in the Apple App Store, while less common today, are gaining traction with developers again, thanks to the Vision Pro AR/VR device.
Remember when you could pay for a full-featured app download and use it forever? Those were the days before you had to make in-app purchases to get any real value from the app or lease it through a subscription. There seems to be a revival of the good old days at Apple’s App Store for its augmented reality/virtual reality Vision Pro goggles.
According to data released by Appfigures, more than half the developers making Vision Pro-only applications (54%) are good, old-fashioned paid downloads. In Apple’s Apple App Store, barely 5% of apps require payment, the research website added.
“It’s a byproduct of being a new ecosystem and storefront,” said Eric Abbruzzese, a research director at ABI Research, a global technology intelligence firm.
“The App Store around the iPhone’s launch and growth was almost entirely free versus paid,” he told TechNewsWorld. “Subscriptions were pushed in recent years as a way for both developers and Apple to grow service revenues.”
“Also,” he added, “fewer customers will be willing to subscribe to an app on an entirely new platform. As an understanding of Vision Pro and its capabilities solidifies and users develop usage habits, longer-term monetization options are more viable. Few will be willing to subscribe to an app before they have developed habits and preferences with Vision Pro.”Clear Path to Profitability
With new products, it typically takes three versions before they’re considered mature and relatively low risk, explained Rob Enderle, president and principal analyst of the Enderle Group, an advisory services firm in Bend, Ore.
“Developers want their money upfront because there is a great deal of risk with any new platform that it might not be successful,” he told TechNewsWorld.
The straightforward revenue generation aspect of the paid download model is attractive to some developers because their apps often cater to niche markets that require specialized functionality, added Mark N. Vena, president and principal analyst of SmartTech Research in San Jose, Calif.
“Charging for downloads helps recoup development costs and ensures a committed user base,” he told TechNewsWorld.
