Jonathan Kay is the Founder & COO of Apptopia (https://www.apptopia.com/), the online marketplace for buying & selling mobile app ownership. Jack Herrick is the Founder & CEO of WikiHow, the 165th most visited site in the world.
Good to know. I was thinking more along the lines of long-term effects- what type of effects do you think it will have on app development trends in general moving forward (if any at all)?
None? iOS apps are pretty far behind Android apps - the OS will only just be getting native Facebook integration next week whereas Android has had it for years. iPhone 5 has the biggest screen yet and it's still only 4 inches. Android phones have been kicking 4.3 as a de facto standard for years and the latest phones are even bigger.
The main point is that iOS as an OS is behind the major player in the industry now and along with iPhone 5, will just be playing catch-up on Android for the foreseeable future.
Heads up - I'm from the Apptopia team- but yes they're asking $1 M & the app has made over $1.4 M total already(whereas apps like Instagram & SocialCam got acquired for much more with no revenue at all).. In terms of a buyer there's no guarantee, you're right about that, but big companies like Energizer would benefit so much from acquiring the app as a branding play that the $1M wouldn't mean much.
Yes, good point. We're very experienced in app valuations and I agree with you 100% that asking is not getting. But this app has millions of users, which is a huge deal because so many people can be reached through the app! In addition, they are only available to 25% of people with iPhones since the app only works for the iPhone 4 & 4s.. think about how crazy their user base will be once the iPhone 5 comes out next month! This is a huge asset you can not overlook during the valuation process.
That is a good point - I'd like to actual before & after prices as well.
What I personally find most interesting is what this means about the difference between Android customers and iPhone customers in terms of price sensitivity. It may be strategic to price the same app differently across different platforms in some cases if possible.
Depending on the app, that's worth considering. More people need to understand that the iPhone and Android markets are, for the most part, completely different.
In most cases, iPhone users are paying a premium for their device and probably expect much the same for the apps. On the other hand, with a huge range of entry for the Android ecosystem, expectations for apps will have a similar range.
For example, I have a cheapo Android phone because it suits my needs and has no contract. I have never bought an app for it. I have a Galaxy Tab 2 7" and have bought several apps for it. The problem is how can developers know this so they can market to me for their benefit. But then my buying habits may not reflect the market in general.
It's not specifically for me building an app it's for a User Guide I'm putting together for our content on our company's website. That being said, in what specific situation would it be useful to use a backend service and what type of situation would make it better to create your own? Or does this depend more on the developer's experience maybe? I'm also interested in cost differences overall.
Are you familiar with https://www.apptopia.com/? The site helps facilitate small scale mobile app acquisitions through our marketplace. Full disclosure- I just joined them team at Apptopia, but our company can provide you with legal protection, security, escrow services, and a transfer specialist if you do decide to go through with the process.
As a side note, we also specialize in app valuation, so no matter what you decide to do I can help you understand how much your app is really worth if you shoot me a quick email with any stats.
In response to your last question, my advice would be to ask yourself how serious you are about integrating the app with your shopping experience. You should assess your future goals relative to mobile and reevaluate once you have an accurate valuation of your app.
As someone who was a job seeker for months, I found most success using LinkedIn. So to have a site that takes the fundamentals behind optimizing your network one step further seems really appealing. The only thing people may have trouble with is mixing business with personal.
That's great feedback Chelsea - we're not mixing really since your activity is 100% confidential (no one sees it) - we're just giving you the tools to see which jobs your social connections can help you get (your friends and family are even more likely to recommend you than a random contact).
By the way, we also let you connect with LinkedIn so you can add that layer as well - and we fill the gap between Facebook and LinkedIn - you may be connected to a friend on Facebook that's connected to a potential reference on LinkedIn - we bridge networks to let you uncover those.
Thanks! I understand some of the implications associated with brand recognition, but I was curious about the legal side of things so that helps. Also, does anyone know how likely it is or how often these lawsuits occur regarding mobile app development?
