Stanislav Gurba discusses various platforms and monetization strategies for mobile apps. He notes that Android has the largest market share of any platform at over 50% of new smartphone sales. However, iOS generates the majority of app revenue, with nearly 83% of app store revenues coming from the iOS app store. Gurba advocates using freemium models rather than premium pricing, as freemium allows developers to earn money from free games through in-app purchases, mobile ads, offers, and sponsorships. He provides tips for implementing these strategies effectively.

1. Stanislav
Gurba
Business
Development,
Fortumo

2. Platforms

3. ¡ New
smartphone
sales
in
Q2
2011
and
Q4
2011
Bada
Microsoft
Others
Microso:
2,1%
1,9%
0,8%
2%
Others
1%
Bada
2%
RIM
8,8%
Android
Android
50,9%
43%
RIM
12%
iOS
18%
Symbian
11,7%
iOS
23,8%
Symbian
22%
¡ Every
second
smartphone
sold
is
running
Android.

4. ¡ Smartphones
in
US
(February
2012,
comScore
mobilens)
§ iOS
and
BlackBerry
are
installed
on
49%
of
US
smartphones

5. 4,90%
4,70%
7,70%
82,70%
Nearly
83%
of
app
store
revenues
are
made
on
iOS.

6. ¡
Glu
Mobile:
Android
Revenues
make
only
1/10
of
iOS
revenues
¡ Distimo
reports
iOS
had
6X
the
revenue
of
Android
in
2011
¡ Challenge:
Why
develop
for
other
platforms
if
iOS
is
making
most
of
the
revenues?

7. ¡ iOS
has
the
highest
level
of
competition

8. ¡ Rovio
Angry
Birds:
Android
revenue
=
iOS
revenue*
*according
to
statement
by
Peter
Vesterbacka
at
MWC
2010
¡ Answer:
Every
platform
can
bring
you
money
¡ Keywords:
competition,
experience,
expertise,
strategy

9. Going
Global
¡ Challenge:
Developers
are
only
aiming
at
established
and
rich
markets
like
US
and
Western
Europe

10. ¡ Android
sales
in
2011
¡ 40%
of
smartphones
are
sold
in
Asia-­‐Pacific

11. ¡ America:
63%
vs
Asia
19%
-­‐
36
million
less
devices
techrunch.com

12. ¡ Answer:
You
should
have
a
monetization
strategy
for
every
region.
§ Asia
Pacific
§ USA
§ Western
Europe
§ Middle
East
§ Latin
America
§ Eastern
Europe
§ CIS
§ Africa

13. App
stores

14. ¡ Challenge:
Developers
are
ignoring
alternative
app
stores

15. ¡ Alternative
stores:
§ Appchina
(China)
and
many
more..
Opera
Mobile
App
Store
§ § Fasmicro
App
Store
GetJar
§ (Africa)
Appia
(Pocketgear)
§ § HiAPK
(China)
..2
000
000
000
AndAppStore
§ downloads
on
§ Handango
¡ Operator
stores:
GetJar
only
§ OnlyAndroid
§ Vodafone
Live!
§ Insyde
Market
§ OrangeWorld
§ Amazon
App
Store
§ O2
Active
§ SlideME
§ Appoke
¡ Manufacturer
stores:
§ YAAM
§ HTC
Market
§ Samsung
Apps
¡ Regional
stores:
§ LG
smartWorld
§ Andronavi
(Japan)
§ Shop4Apps
(Motorola)
§ Wandoujia
(China)

16. Premium
vs
Freemium
¡ Challenge:
Developers
rely
on
premium
distribution
models.

17. § Percentage
of
free
apps:
Nokia
Ovi
Store
BlackBerry
App
World
Amazon
Apple
App
Store
Samsung
Apps
Windows
Phone
Android
Market
GetJar
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%

18. ¡ Why
Premium
is
bad?
§ App
stores
are
full
of
low
quality
apps
§ App
purchase
is
an
investment
§ Cultural
differences
§ Weak
and
non
effective
billing
solutions
§ Free
competitors
§ Limited
distribution
options
§ Piracy

19. ¡ Why
Freemium
is
good?
§ More
downloads
§ Target
long
tail
( just
like
offers)
§ People
are
used
with
free
apps
§ Ability
to
adjust
to
different
ability
to
pay
§ Better
global
reach
§ More
distribution
options
§ Lower
dependence
from
app
stores
§ Piracy

20. ¡ 75%
of
top
100
grossing
iOS
apps
are
games
¡ 65%
of
them
are
freemium
¡
Answer:
Avoid
selling
your
games
and
use
Freemium
models!

21. Earn
money
from
free
games
¡ Mobile
ads
¡ Offers
¡ In-­‐game
purchases
¡ Sponsorships
and
special
deals

22. Mobile
ads
$15
billion
in
2011.

23. ¡ Challenge:
Mobile
ads
makes
my
game
slow
and
ugly.
¡ Answer:
Do
it
smart!
¡ What's
critical:
§ Ad
coverage
§ Respect
low-­‐end
devices
§ Try
different
advertisers
§ Think
about
UI
and
design
§ Place
ads
on
loading
screens

24. Mobile
offers
A
great
way
to
monetize
non-­‐paying
users.

25. ¡ Pros:
§ great
for
monetizing
non
paying
users
§ global
reach
¡ Cons:
§ be
careful
with
what
you
offer
§ you
may
be
promoting
competitors
§ don't
overload
your
game
by
offers
§ don't
replace
payments
with
offers!

26. In-­‐app
purchases
¡ What
can
be
sold?
§ virtual
credits
§ extra
levels
§ trial
version
activation
§ extra
features
§ personalization
§ banner-­‐free
version
(weak)

27. ¡ Consumable
goods
(virtual
credits)
68%
of
in-­‐app
purchases

28. ¡ Challenge:
Developers
are
using
ineffective
payment
methods

29. ¡ In-­‐app
payment
methods:
§ App
store
billing
(Google
checkout)
–
mostly
credit
card
based,
high
store
margins.
§ Mobile
operator
billing
(direct
billing,
premium
sms)
–
good
coverage
and
conversion
rates,
low
revenue
shares.
§ Credit
cards
(Visa,
Mastercard)
–
bad
coverage,
high
revenue
shares,
kills
conversion
rate.
§ Paypal
–
works
in
limited
number
of
the
countries
§ Prepaid
cards,
kiosks
and
vouchers
–
low
conversion
rates
§ Direct
debit
and
others...

30.
or
¡ Answer
Analyze
your
user
base
and
select
the
most
suitable
payment
method
and
additional
methods
if
needed.

31. ¡ Challenge:
Bad
user
experience
during
payment
flow
vs

32. ¡ In-­‐app
payment
is
impulsive
¡ Every
new
screen
kills
conversion
by
10-­‐15%
¡ Customers
are
not
yet
familiar
with
mobile
purchases
¡ Payment
should
look
secure
¡ Answer:
Golden
rules
of
in-­‐app
payment:
the
user
should
reach
to
the
payment
with
a
maximum
of
3
clicks.

33. ¡ Challenge:
Developers
ignore
small
details.
•
Currency
•
Localization
•
Terms
and
conditions
•
Operator/billing
provider
logos
(+
15%
conversion)
•
Helpdesk
and
customer
care
•
Track
user
reviews
and
comments
•
A/B
testing

34. ¡ Answer:
Make
your
payment
flow
perfect!

35. ¡ Challenge:
Wrong
game
balance
¡ Game
is
too
difficult
=>
they
leave
before
buying
¡ Game
is
too
easy
=>
they
don’t
need
to
buy
¡ Too
few
free
levels
=>
they
are
not
yet
addicted
¡ Too
many
free
levels
=>
they
had
enough
¡ Answer:
Develop
the
perfect
balance
for
introducing
paid
content.

36. ¡ Challenge:
Wrong
pricing
policy
$2
in
USA
$2
in
China
¡ Answer:
Adjust
the
prices
according
to
purchasing
power.

37. ¡ Challenge:
Lack
of
offline
mode
support.
According
to
Localytics,
15%
of
mobile
apps
are
launched
while
offline
.
¡ Answer:
Your
game
should
be
prepared
to
work
and
monetize
while
offline.

38. Danke!
Stanislav
Gurba
stanislav@fortumo.com
skype:
stanislav.gurba