Developers are big boys and girls. Let developers set their own price.

There’s been a flurry of tweets and posts recently regarding some of the terms of conditions imposed on developers to commercialize their Android apps. As one of the oldest app stores around (.est. 2005) it never ceases to surprise us how people fawn on developers to get their content and then impose draconian terms on them that make monetizing their excruciatingly painful.

As an app store, working with developers really isn’t that difficult. Basically you have to listen to what they say, provide them tools to get their content in front of consumers and try to help them make money. But that last part seems to be a challenge for certain organizations. Developers can’t make great content if they can’t pay rent. They can’t pay rent unless they are given some basic, common sense freedoms on how to monetize their content. We’d figured maybe the easiest way to communicate this would be through a Manifesto of certain guiding principles app stores should strive to have to help developers make money:

1. Let developers set their own price. Developers are big boys and girls. They know how important price is and they know it can only be used so often to be effective. Unlike app stores, they also only generally have a few apps to use this on so when they use it they need to make it count. It’s fine to suggest pricing to developers but ultimately only they know what they need to make a living and they could / should study consumer behavior enough to understand what the most effective price point is.

2. Let developers choose their billing partner. We compete in an open economy. In particular, Android is supposed to be open (though the door is closing more quickly with each passing day). Billing is no different. There are better and worse suppliers. Developers should be allowed to work with multiple partners to ensure a) they have the partner that converts best and b) they have the partner that monetizes best. If an app store has its own billing that’s fine. Give developers options and ultimately they and consumers will pick what solution works best for them. Otherwise it’s like going to the movies and always having to pay with Diners Club (who even uses that anymore?)

3. Don’t tie down developers’ ability to promote across store fronts: In an ideal world, Android distribution is supposed to be open (thank you AT&T for helping us get closer to that reality). App stores shouldn’t hamper developers’ ability to leverage promotions or placement in other stores through rigid pricing policies. App stores should realize that developers will look to different app stores for different promotional opportunities. If I can’t get app store A to feature their game but App Store B will feature it if they discount it then why not be able to this? Android is supposed to benefit developers through open distribution, if stores abuse pricing to reduce this distribution it defeats the whole purpose behind open distribution and ultimately makes it harder to pay the rent.

4. Show developers some respect for the product they create and communicate that: If app stores set pricing it should be in conjunction with developers. At the very least, App stores should provide multiple price points to choose from as well as case studies, best practices and advice to developers on when / how to manage the price life cycle to optimize revenues. Back in the much criticized carrier days as a developer I would often work with carriers to agree on pricing and we would jointly agree on how to manage this. App stores should and do have an opinion on pricing of apps given their wider view of the market and they should communicate this. However, to build goodwill they should work with developers and not independently of them.

The app space is an amorphous, rapidly shifting landscape. The technology, distribution and pricing are ever changing and make it difficult for developers to build great products and successful monetize them. What the app stores need to do is give developers flexibility, tools, support and advice on how to this and not dictate to them. As app stores we need to keep in mind that ultimately content is what consumers come to us for. It’s a bit tough to meet that demand if you ignore developers or worse, impose restrictive commercial policies on them. We can do better than that.

Patrick Mork is CMO of GetJar

Opera Mini won an award from GetJar in 2010

Independent application store GetJar has banned one of the most popular apps it offers – the Opera Mini mobile browser – because of Opera’s decision to launch its own app store. In a letter expressing regret to its developer community, GetJar described the app as one of its “longtime favourites”, saying it had been downloaded from the store 30 million times. The firm said that it had been in negotiation with Opera for some time in a bid to avoid having to exclude the browser application.

Opera launched its Opera Mobile Store on March 8, having developed it in partnership with white label app store player Appia. “The launch of the Opera Mobile Store supports Opera’s core belief in an open, cross-platform mobile Internet experience by providing Opera users with an integrated storefront of mobile applications,” said Mahi de Silva, EVP, Consumer Mobile, Opera Software. “Our partnership with Appia delivers to all Opera Mobile and Opera Mini users easy access to a wide variety of great content, on any device, all over the world.”

This was too much for Getjar, which proceeded to implement the ban. “Although we don’t have any issue with this in principle,” the firm said of Opera’s move, “in practice it means that consumers might start using this app store instead of visiting GetJar to get their favourite apps.”

Quite how the practice differs from the principle isn’t clear, and yet GetJar was at pains to stress that it welcomes competition. “We’re happy to go head to head with any other app store,” the firm said, explaining its decision to ban Opera Mini because it: “robs GetJar of traffic and therefore of the advertising necessary to keep our service free for the more than 25 million consumers that use GetJar.”

But the fact that all applications available from GetJar are free, has led some observers to question the sense of its decision to ban Opera for launching a store that offers paid-for applications.

“Why would a freemium app store GetJar ban Opera coz of its new premium app store? GetJar’s users aren’t people who would download paid apps,” tweeted Simon Buckingham, CEO of another independent app store, Appitalism.

Get more related content in the Billing Zone

There were bonus benefits for lesser known mobile browsers as GetJar recommended alternatives to Opera’s product. Bitstream Bold, Squace and UC Web Browser all enjoyed a moment’s promotion. How long this will last remains to be seen, with GetJar saying it hopes to resolve the dispute with Opera in the future. The reactions of other app stores that feature Opera will be interesting to watch.

GetJar reckons developers will happily pay to promote their content instead of paying licence fees to develop free apps

Mobile apps store GetJar, second only in size to the Apple App Store, has teamed up with games developer Glu Mobile in a pilot project giving premium content away for free in a bid to drive a new business model. GetJar reckons developers will happily pay to promote their content instead of paying licence fees to develop free apps for a certain platform.

The pilot program will operate over a two month period, with GetJar giving away one piece of Glu content for free every two weeks.

The app store said that scale is essential in this model, scale that only comes with over one billion downloads to date across 200 countries, and nearly 100million downloads per month. “GetJar doesn’t need to rely on the revenue from the sale of apps – instead it relies on the sponsored app placements on its site, which allows it to then buy premium content from publishers and distribute this content to consumers for free,” said Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO for GetJar.

GetJar will use revenues from the sponsored app placements to licence premium content and give it away for free, which in turn will drive traffic. “This revolutionary new business model will fundamentally change the app industry economics and give consumers access to many more apps at a lower cost or in GetJar’s case – free,” said Laurs.

Opera Mini tops 25 mil. downloads

Independent app store GetJar said this week that the world’s most popular mobile web browser, Opera Mini, has been downloaded more than 25 million times from its store. This makes Opera Mini the most downloaded app ever from any open app store to date, GetJar claims.

The white label app store said the latest version of Opera Mini (v4.2) has received nearly 7.5 million downloads since the beginning of 2009 and remains one of GetJar’s top five most downloaded applications globally. GetJar thinks the secret to the browser’s success is its cross platform attraction for consumers using Java, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices.

Telecoms.com recently profiled both Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera Software and Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar in its list of 40 movers and shakers in the mobile market. GetJar is an interesting case  in the app store world – as of May 2009, the firm boasted a portfolio of 46,000 mobile games and apps and serves 35 million downloads per month through its own site and its network of partners, including carriers such as Vodafone, and vendors like Research In Motion. The company offers a global distribution and payment platform to a base of 350,000 developers, from one-man shops to established brands like Google, Microsoft and Facebook.

View telecoms.com’s profiles on Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera, and  Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar in the Top 40 to Watch

The white label app store caters to Java-based devices and targets Symbian, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Palm, BlackBerry, and Flash Lite-compatible phones. Most recently GetJar has announced partnerships with Virgin Mobile France, 3UK and Sony Ericsson.

Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar

Serial entrepreneur Ilja Laurs currently holds the position of chief executive of the world’s largest open mobile application store, GetJar, which he founded in 2005.

As of May 2009, GetJar boasts a portfolio of 46,000 mobile games and apps and serves 35 million downloads per month through its own site and its network of partners, including carriers such as Vodafone, and vendors like and Research In Motion. The company offers a global distribution and payment platform to a base of 350,000 developers, from one-man shops to established brands like Google, Microsoft and Facebook.

The app store caters to Java-based devices and targets Symbian, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Palm, BlackBerry, and Flash Lite-compatible phones. Most recently GetJar has announced partnerships with Virgin Mobile France, 3UK and Sony Ericsson.

According to research carried out across 14,000 European consumers by industry analyst Forrester, close to a quarter of online European consumers now regularly access the internet from their mobile handsets, creating new opportunities as well as new confusion for brands unsure about their target audience and mobile strategy. A year ago, the segment of European online users regularly accessing the internet from their mobile phones was only at 20 per cent.

There is a sprint race on in the industry at the moment that pits vendors, operators and platform developers against one another for leadership in the application store space and the resulting place on the consumer relationship podium. Laurs’ has built a firm that could give a number of runners a boost.

Sony Ericsson shrinks loss in second quarter

The fortunes of flagging handset vendor Sony Ericsson improved a little during the second quarter of 2009, with the firm reporting a loss of €213m, compared to a profit of €6m for the same period last year. Loss reported for the first quarter of 2009 was €293m.

But sales for the three month period to the end of June plummeted to €1.68bn, compared to €2.82bn in the second quarter of 2008.

Sony Ericsson shipped 13.8 million handsets during the quarter, a decrease of 43 per cent year on year and a sequential decrease of five per cent, due to continued challenging market conditions in all regions, particularly in Latin America.

“As expected, the second quarter was challenging and we still believe the remainder of the year will be difficult for Sony Ericsson. Our focus remains on bringing the company back to profitability and growth as quickly as possible, and our performance is starting to improve due to our cost reduction activities,” said Dick Komiyama, president of Sony Ericsson.

Komiyama said that cost reduction programs started in mid-2008, intended to reduce operating expenses by Eur880m are on track, with the full benefit expected to come in during the second half of 2010. Restructuring charges are estimated to be well within the previously announced Eur500m, including the already announced global workforce reduction of 2,350 people.

During the second quarter Sony Ericsson unveiled three new mobile phones: Aino, Satio and Yari, with a focus on social media applications. Last month, the company jumped on the app store bandwagon, announcing plans to distribute mobile applications via its PlayNow arena by teaming up with independent app store GetJar.

The company forecasts that the global handset market for 2009 will continue to contract by at least ten per cent from around 1.19bn units in 2008.

Sony Ericsson estimates that its market share was around five per cent in the second quarter, probably leaving it languishing in fifth position behind Motorola.

Sony Ericsson jumps on app store bandwagon

Another player jumps on the app store bandwagon. This time it’s struggling feature phone vendor Sony Ericsson, which on Thursday announced plans to distribute mobile applications via its PlayNow arena.

By teaming up with independent app store GetJar, Sony Ericsson will expand its mobile content offering with a library of over 45,000 free applications that will complement a series of premium apps from Sony Ericsson.

GetJar now claims to receive over one million downloads a day across more than 200 countries, with over 200,000 developer accounts under its belt. The app store caters to Java-based devices and targets Symbian, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Palm, BlackBerry, and Flash Lite-compatible phones.

Sony Ericsson will use GetJar’s upload infrastructure to make the submission process for new applications easy for developers.

“Truly successful app stores need a platform which can cope with the enormous levels of consumer demand from day one, while also providing a deep and varied content offering for consumers across a wide range of handsets and platforms,” said Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar. “Sony Ericsson is able to draw on our track record and global experience of delivering apps for everyone, to ensure rapid growth and success.”