What percentage of iPhone apps are free or almost free?

August 14, 2009 5:23 AM

How many apps does iTunes sell? What percentage are free or under 99 cents? Where can I get iPhone app numbers?

I have a guy who is trying to sell our organization on $50,000 worth of development on an iPhone, using some crazy numbers as to how much we stand to make. This guy has made some crazy claims, like that less than 20% of all iPhone apps are free or under a dollar. I can't buy that. Especially if you consider how many more free apps are downloaded versus paid apps.

Anyway, I'm having a hard time finding places that will show any kinds of numbers about how many apps iTunes has, the price distribution, numbers of apps downloaded, etc. Can anyone point out some good sources for me?

Thanks!

posted by rev- to computers & internet (3 comments total)

Here's some O'Reilly research on the ratio of free to paid apps on the store, broken down by category.
Here's some research from Pinch Media about actual use of applications, and some advice revenue models.

Not sure they answer all your questions, but they're a good start.
posted by chrismear at 6:06 AM on August 14 [1 favorite]

I'd be skeptical. From what I've gathered, there are only a handful of people making a good living on the app store. Maybe something like the top 200 paid apps (perhaps not even that many). Everyone else is either doing it for fun or hoping that they too will hit it big.
posted by bengarland at 6:44 AM on August 14

Techcrunch, Engadget, Gizmodo, and other tech blogs are good sources for information, though you do have to dig around or read daily to find them.

Here's an interesting case-study what makes more money in the long term: free, ad supported apps or paid apps. Spoiler alert: "Ad revenue in the long run is higher than sales revenue"

Here's another case study that suggests creating free, lite versions of your app produces worthwhile conversion rates (as opposed to cannibalizing paid sales, as others suggest).

Of course, these are both individual case-studies. They may not represent the way all apps will be. However, they are interesting data points you may want to consider.
posted by carpyful at 8:49 AM on August 14