Trip Hawkins says App Store does not provide a viable business model
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Trip Hawkins, who left Apple in 1982 to found Electronic Arts, said that Apple and followers of its mobile-platform mantra are only creating the illusion of a viable business model for third-party developers.
He backed up his statement with the following quote:
“They have over-encouraged supply,” Hawkins said on a panel at the conference. Using statistics that Apple has made public, Hawkins calculated that each app earns, on average, about $4,000.
“Four thousand per application: Do you see a problem with that?” he asked the audience. “That doesn’t even pay for a really good foosball table.”
Apple said Wednesday it has doled $2 billion out to app developers, which could put the average payout closer to $5,700. Either way, Hawkins said he believes the math makes it difficult for creators of apps to turn a profit.
