I moderated a panel at a conference held by Silicon Valley-China Wireless Technology Association (SVCW) this past Friday. Here's the video - my commentary/learnings from the panel are right below the video (this is on LiveStream, not YouTube):
In many of the conversations here in Silicon Valley, it seems like we've already moved past the app store phenomenon and are asking questions like "Is the App Store dead?". My viewpoint is really around "What's New?" and what will sustain the spread of similar discovery/monetization/distribution methods across different device types and across the world. It's also interesting to note how On-Device Portals (ODPs) and app stores have been around for years, but how the success of the iPhone App Stores is now spurring more open-ness and innovation.
Some learnings from the panel:
- China Mobile - announced the Ophone last month (August 2009). 70/30 split of revenue between developers and China Mobile - however, developers will be paid in RMB - no way to convert to dollars, as far as I can tell. Also, they will open up the address book to integrate into apps as well as enable better discovery of apps through finding out what your friends have bought (interesting - this is not possible on the iPhone app store today). When asked about censorship of applications/content (similar to what's done with the Internet in China), the answer was that there is a legimate balance to be struck between and open-ness and security - China Mobile provides verification related to viruses, non-device-friendly applicatoins, customer support costs etc. China Mobile now has a Research Lab in Silicon Valley which is hunting for new technologies to take back to China - contact Shanquan Bao at the Research Center if you're interested.
- RIM - 70%+ of RIM's customers are now consumers, as opposed to enterprise subscribers. RIM has ~5000 apps on its Application Center. They have launched App Centers in 30 countries so far. Lowest price-point for apps is $2.99 - they want avoid the real cheap/free apps.
- HipLogic - The company will launch an app store & development platform with Carphone Warehouse in the UK. May 2009 press release here. Interesting to note how a device retailer (with market power and a long history of providing value-added services on top of devices) is thinking about platforms, discovery and distribution for itself, rather than leaving this up to the operators or device OEMs.
- Qualcomm -Qualcomm has paid out $2 billion to developers over the past 8 years, since the launch of the BREW platform. Qualcomm has launched its Qualcomm Plaza Retail strategy for driving foot traffic to BREW-powered operator app stores. The subscription model has been most successful for its apps over the past several years (this is completely lacking from the iPhone App Store for now).
- HiSoft - Charles Yu had a great view on the comparison between mobile app stores in different countries. Charles' view on app stores shifting power away from mobile operators toward developers was that this is the case in the US but definitely not the case in China and other emerging markets. He said that, in China, this control is for others to pry out of the hands of the operators. Subscription accounts for 70-80% of application revenue in China. Charles also had a great point around how operators and developers interact around controversial apps or content in China - he said that operators essentially hold back payment from developers until they comply.
- Aeroprise - Dan Turchin, CEO, said that the app store doesn't make sense for enterprise apps distribution or monetization - Aeroprise provides mobile enterpise apps. However, they are close partners with RIM. He also mentioned a site that tracks how much sleep the Apple iPhone application reviewers are getting - www.148apps.biz! 8500 apps submitted per week. Reviewing 2000 per week, so backlog growing 6500 per week. Staff of 40 full-time people at Apple doing these reviews - unsustainable, according to Dan.
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