Cheapest Windows 8 Apps Would Cost More

Bangalore: Microsoft recently increased the price for a paid Windows 8 App. The new price is 50% more than the initial price. It now stands at $1.49 as opposed to the entry level price of 99 cents.

Arik Cohen, Lead Program Manager for Commerce and Licensing team for Microsoft revealed the new pricing in a blog post. “You, as the developer, are always in control of the pricing of your app.”  According to the post, the price tiers ranges from $1.49 to $999.99. It also stated that the developers can also sell their apps without a price tag or providing the app on a free trial. Microsoft will keep 30% of the revenue generated and will reduce it to 20% once the total app revenue reaches $25,000.

Microsoft also revealed that only Windows 8 Metro apps will be available in the store. A recent study by Vision Mobile revealed that 34% of the 1473 developers used a per-download pricing model. However, the most rewarding method is subscriptions. But to get customers to sign up is a tough job. Only 12% developers were able to attract customers to sign up for an app.

When it comes to cost of development, Windows app are relatively cheaper. A Windows Phone app costs roughly $17,750 as opposed to $22,637 for Android and $27,463 for iOS. Customers who are using Windows 8 trial versions on their tablets or PCs can download apps for free till the coming month.  

Cohen informed that the Windows Store is the only source for apps for the Windows RT operating system. Starting October 26, upgrade packages will be available, Microsoft announced.  

Windows vs Android vs BlackBerry vs iOS

Windows Phone app generates average revenue of $1,234 per month which is relatively less to the revenue generated by iOS or Android. BlackBerry by far is the only profitable platform with revenue of $3,850. Distimo, in its January report found that 6 out of 10 apps in the iOS App Store are using the pay-per-download model.  In the Android Market, only 2 out of 10 apps use a paid-download model. It was evident that both Android and iOS generated revenue from in-app sales.

Microsoft strongly believes that its Windows App store has the potential of becoming a destination for premium apps.