iTunes Store May Not be Profitable Enough—Location, Location, Location

Forbes reports that some developers, or at least the company Networks in Motion, are “wary” of developing applications for the iPhone.

The three reasons cited were:

• The apparent ability to pay for an app on the iTunes store only once, and use it on more than one iPhone
• The current inability for developers to charge a regular fee for continued usage of their apps
• The potential for supporting a company (Apple) that’s reportedly working on their own versions of the developer’s software

Personally, if the last reason were true, that would be a bad move on Apple’s part. If they really want to attract developers to provide a richer experience on the iPhone, they should make it clear that anyone with a great idea will be able to profit tremendously.

On the other hand, we can’t see why the first two reasons would be insurmountable challenges for developers. It would be reasonable to assume that Apple would allow various payment schemes on the iTunes store, and that honestly takes minor changes to the online store’s setup. After all, the current success of the iTunes store—which balances its appeal between copyright holders and consumers—relies on a rights management system. Can’t some modifications be made to accomodate the developers’ needs?

What does make sense is the assertion that the iPhone’s limitations may make it less ideal for certain applications. For instance, as the article reports:

Citysense Chief Executive and Co-Founder Greg Skibiski says plotting people’s movements enables the service to detect which clubs, restaurants and bars are drawing crowds at a particular time. To preserve battery life, however, the iPhone allows only one application to be open at a time, which means Citysense’s app likely won’t achieve its full potential on the device.

In any case, the discussion over location-based services—applications that use a cell phone’s ability to determine where it is at a given moment—may indicate how important this feature is for both users and mobile software developers.

Forbes.com | image from fourstarters.com