Astraware TouchPad Totalizer tops 5000, OddBlob and Astraware Casino en route 12
Folks, it happened: Astraware's TouchPad Totalizer tracker of TouchPad game sales finally topped 5,000 sales, the top level for Astraware's we'll-make-these-if-you-buy-enough-of-those deal. Granted, 5,000 isn't a huge number for Astraware; they likely sell more than that in a day on iOS or Android - when you're on a platform that sells three million units in a weekend, five thousand is a drop in the bucket for a firm like Astraware.
The progress up the Totalizer totem pole has seen the release of Astraware Mahjong HD to test the waters, with Sudoku HD and Astraware Solitaire following as further sales targets fell. But things hit a hitch around the 3500 mark, where one would find the popular Astraware game OddBlob. Sudoku and Solitaire saw releases shortly after hitting the sales targets, but OddBlob has not hit the TouchPad App Catalog yet despite it having been quite some time since the sales target was hit.
Asked about this seeming oversight on the Twitters, Astraware admitted that the process of transferring OddBlob to the TouchPad "has taken longer than expected", so you should expect Astraware Casino to hit first. That said, OddBlob and Casino are both popular games and we wouldn't be surprised to see them sell a few thousand copies on the TouchPad eventually.
It's a testament to Astraware that they're willing to put the work into using the webOS PDK to bring their apps to the TouchPad. As the delay with OddBlob has shown, it's not always super easy to make the transfer happen, but we're happen to see Astraware making the effort even for just the few thousand sales that the TouchPad user community can bring. Sometimes it's not about the money, though we doubt Astraware would be doing this if they weren't at least breaking even - that's why they set up the Totalizer in the first place, so that we could see ourselves what it would take to make it worthwhile in Astraware's eyes.
Source: Astraware (TouchPad Totalizer, Twitter)
12 Comments
Glad astraware is porting Casino over to touchpad but that's a sobering low number of purchases (~5000) by webOS users considering there may be 1 million touchpad owners. (I know some TPs are running android and others are in the drawer but still.. ..)Well, casino may have wider appeal than other astraware games and hopefully will sell well. I'll buy it if only to support the few webOS developers.
What is sobering is the total revenue for this app is probably around $10,000. Anyone who has technology employees knows how far that will go as far as salary and benefits - not far at all. If you don't know anything about business then you go "Well, it's better than nothing."
You might as well get the one million TP number out of your head. The potential market for any mobile app is much smaller than hardware sales figures. That's like saying that all you have to do to get rid of those fund raising chocolate bars is to have your kid come to work and sell everyone who works in your department a single bar. Then just try it.
True. If games from a name studio that have been repeatedly publicized by the front page of the largest webOS site can't generate even 10,000 sales from a userbase of 750,000-1,000,000, that's a pretty telling stat that there is no future for significant development efforts on this platform.
We're talking less than 1 percent user buy-in for some pretty significant titles. I just don't see how most developers can justify an effort greater than perfunctory.
Have you performed the same analysis for Android or IOS? If not, please do and report back here. I would be interested to know. Be careful with your math though, because 10,000 out of 750-1000K is 1 to 1.33% I think..or actually 1.33 to 1% respectively.
I get what you are saying though. I'm wondering what percentage of users in both Android and iOS have purchased the same available Astraware games. I'm guessing it is a bigger percentage, but I don't think it will be earthshakingly bigger.
Another way to look at it is, how many potential users are active here on webOS Nation? I'm guessing it is less than 750,000. So, the actual 'buy in' percentage of the 'educated' webOS users would be higher.
Does that make any sense? It's supposed to make a little sense...
Thanks for the math advice, but since they have barely reached FIVE thousand and not TEN, then it figures out to .65 of a percent or less than a percent, as I said.
But the percentages aren't the most important part regarding Android or iOS. Profitability is.
On webOS, it matters because the prime incentive for a developer to target this platform NOW is because no one else is catering to it. Besides their history with Palm, I'm sure that was the major factor for Astraware to get involved.
But if you STILL can't do more than break even despite their being little to no active competition in most categories.....well, that kills any reason to try to be a big fish in our smaller pond, as opposed to being a smaller fish in a bigger pond on iOS, Android, or Windows Mobile (70k apps is a pretty good sized pond, even these days.)
The argument against iOS and Android has always been that unless you promote your app heavily and get lucky, you won't make money. But this is an example of being on a smaller platform AND being heavily promoted and STILL not making money. Might as well roll the dice on Android or iOS if that's the case.
Hmmm...my math may be faulty (although today the TouchPad totalizer is at 5054 and Casino isn't out yet...nor Oddblob),
By the way, is 750,000 to 1 million the number of TouchPads out there? I thought is was a good bit less than that. If that is a "TouchPads only" number, what is an estimate for all the webOS devices out there? I believe the 5054 are just for games for the Touchpad sold so far. There are also games for the Pre that I don't think are included in that Totalizer.
It was my intention to focus on the percentage point, what I was getting at had little to do with the money aspect...or the total number of users.
Here's what I think...webOS users are, in general, more willing to pay more for an app than either Android or iOS users. In other words, I think the per capita spending is higher on webOS users than other platforms. I think webOS users (yes, I are one) are more 'invested' in their chosen OS than users of other OSs.
That's what I was wondering about...sure, developers make more money developing for IOS or Android...if they only make half as much profit per sale, but sell 50 times more, then they are making...let's see, add 9, carry the 2....oh wait, I better not try math again! Well, developers make more money developing for IOS and Android.
I like a developer that 'goes the distance' for something more than JUST money. I think Astraware is showing that they might be willing to do just that. I like that. I support that.
When we look at the numbers, the group of users that are truly hungry for (and willing to pay for) apps are iOS users. Maybe it's a marketing thing but it seems that iOS users buy their devices "so that they can get the apps they want". Android users seem to buy their devices for the devices themselves. There is a night and day difference in app sales between those two platforms despite Android's growth rate. webOS users on the other hand simply have no choice but to pay the higher prices. The supply is just not there; nor is there much competition on the platform. The few developers that exist on webOS tend to charge more because of the smaller market and the smaller market pays more because there aren't many (legal) choices. Like every other platform user out there, if webOS users could get the apps cheaper, they'd opt for that (in general).
It is not correct to focus on percentage point unless you are comparing the same data. A percentage point loses it's meaning when you start comparing two very different datasets.
By the way, the math stuff was meant as a correction, not an insult. Hope you didn't take it that way (couldn't tell from your post).
No, no, I didn't take it as a criticism. I was trying to laugh at myself for misreading the previous post-er's calculation. I misread that they were saying 10,000 was less than a percent of the 750K, etc. My mistake...so i was poking fun at me for missing on my math.
I do agree that Android users are the more frugal of these three (iOS, Android, and webOS). But I think there is still a difference between the other two.
I know a couple of iOS users...my daughters...on their iPods, no phones. They have had them for 3-4 years. They may have purchased about 2 apps each. EVERYTHING else...EVERYTHING else they have loaded up in the way of apps have been free. Now, if they see a Hunger Games app...that could all change of course! But they won't pay money for apps....they just won't. I know 2 is not a complete dataset. But it is something. I have asked others who have iPads/phones and when I tell them how i have purchased X number of apps for my phone, they say "I hardly ever buy an app. there is almost always something free that I can use."
So I do not believe that iOS users are as 'keen' on being willing to pay for apps as webOS users. And, there are often free choices for many webOS apps too. I have over 200 apps on my Pre+. I paid for maybe 20. So, about 10% (I know...I know, I'm getting a bit wild...using my FREE RPN Scientific Calculator, just to be safe! ;) ) of my apps are purchased. Most of them are games. My best NON-game app that I use the most is "TripThat", which is an app that works with "TripIt".
When I had my PalmOS devices, I may have purchased between 8 to 10% of those apps (my favorite there being LauncherX by Bozidar Benc!). So, yes, we all look for a free app to try, see if it fits our needs. But I believe webOS users are more willing, not out of necessity, to purchase an app than are iOS users. Why? I believe it is because there is more of an attachment to webOS by its users that to iOS. I think there have been hundreds of discussions about why...so I won't go there again.
This whole discussion here is a bit off tack (or track for the landlubbers out there) anyway. The article is about Astraware developing apps for the TouchPad. They are not doing it soley for making money. Our discussions (and the math of others besides me) have made that clear. So why are they doing it? I think they have a sense that sometimes it is a better choice to give some effort, without much if any return, to improve the state of things. It's like when you see your neighbor having trouble getting their lawn mower started, so you come over with your mower and help finish their yard. The cynic might say "you had an ulterior motive." Did you? Maybe...but maybe not. Maybe you did it because you could, and it helped someone.
Kudo's to Astraware for developing for the TouchPad. It makes me smile. They may not be able to buy a new iPad with our smiles...but they might just smile back...and feel better about life in general!
I's nice to see Astraware sticking to their word. I look forward to buying/playing the new games
Can we PLEASE have Tradewinds for the Pre3 or the Touchapd? I bought it for my Pre and I can NO longer play it !!! PLEASEEEEEEEEEE release it on the Touchpad. I know you got to re-work on the maps etc...but the engine is there...its do-able !!!
I'm so happy with this, and oddblog are leaving it up to us. . I like that they must have a sweet spot for webOS and will make them available if a bit of interest is there. I respect this company that doesn't have to do this , certainly aren't doing it for the big flood of money. If I buy mahjong, and Astroware Casino, then Oddblob should be coming out. And then I'll be a hardcore fan and will buy whatever Astroware puts out. Because to me, they'll have shown their integrity
.I'm going to buy one of the games tonight, to help them out
They're not pulling out prematurly, but are giving us a chance to determine fanboy interest.
Seems very fair.
This illustrates some of what I'm thinking...the concept that a user respects a company like Astraware for doing something, not just for the money it can make, but for the goodwill they can generate. Woosh will buy a game...not because they could have gotten it cheaper on another platform, and despite the fact that they could get a whole lot of other choices on another platform. Woosh sees Astraware do something kind for webOS users. And Woosh wants to reward that kindness.
I agree. I have purchased 2 or 3 of Astraware's games for the Pre (I have Tradewinds 2, Oddblob...and I think I'll get Mahjong). I'm encouraging Astraware to continue developing for the webOS platform...which currently is for the TouchPad (and I don't even have a TouchPad). I pay attention to good deeds. I think they are important. I think they are indicators of distinction between an organization or company that is only working to make a profit, and those that are also in it to profit all of us...those who care about a legacy, making a difference, bringing a smile.
I appreciate a company that thinks "what did I do today to make things better, happier, more peaceful, more exciting for the people in my area of influence". When I see that, I want to encourage that...without ending a sentence with a preposition.