Author: Christophe Theron
Date: 20:43:11 04/11/02
Go up one level in this thread
On April 11, 2002 at 14:17:04, Frank Schneider wrote:
>On April 11, 2002 at 13:42:35, Roy Eassa wrote:
>
>>On April 11, 2002 at 13:08:57, Frank Schneider wrote:
>>
>>>>On April 10, 2002 at 15:16:05, Roy Eassa wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/micro_stories.pl?ACCT=153400&TICK=PALM&STORY=/www/story/04-10-2002/0001703247&EDATE=Apr+10,+2002
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>"Palm OS(R) based applications accounted for more than 97 percent
>>>>>of handheld software titles sold in the United States last year..."
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>A figure THAT high seems suspect, but it does seem that Palm apps outsell Pocket
>>>>>PC apps by a very wide margin.
>>>
>>>I just saw that this article was published by Palm and I wonder why
>>>they think the have to publish such an article if they really have
>>>97% market share.
>>>When you check the number of downloads of the best selling applications, e.g.
>>>at PalmGear and PocketGear, you will probably get more accurate numbers.
>
>I just tried to compare the number of downloads of some applications
>at PalmGear and PocketGear:
>
>PalmGear: #1, #2 of the Top 50 monthly downloads:
>Silver Screen: 473000 downloads (8300 this month), $19
>Noah Lite dictionary: 533000 downloads (6900 this month), free (great prog!)
>
>PocketGear: #1, #2 of the Top 10 Pocket PC Applications:
>Chopper Alley (ARM): 50000 downloads, $5.99
>Pocket Strip Poker (ARM): 25000 downloads, $14.99
>
>If you compare the $ sold, Palm has about 93%. Of course, that's just
>a rough guess.
>
>Frank
>
>
>>>
>>
>>
>>Well, in that article they are quoting "NPDTechWorld", about which I found this:
>>
>>"NPDTechworld (SM) offers a suite of tracking services for the information
>>technology and consumer electronics marketplace. Using the most detailed
>>point-of-sale (POS) databases in the industry and a consumer panel of more than
>>800,000 individuals, NPDTechworld provides a foundation of integrated POS and
>>consumer knowledge. From this wealth of data, companies from both the consumer
>>and the commercial sides of these industries can make more effective, informed
>>business decisions based on theclearest possible picture of the competitive
>>forces that shape them."
>>
>>I don't think Palm is lying by quoting this "NPDTechWorld March 2002" source,
>>but it IS only one source and if I were Palm I'd quote it too!
>>
>>Anyway, as I said earlier, I have little doubt that software sales for Palm OS
>>dwarf software sales for other handheld platforms, but I would not expect it to
>>be by a ratio of over 97 to 3!
I don't believe in the 97/3 claim (it is about retail sales IN US STORES, but
lots of apps are sold directly over the Internet), and I don't believe in your
computations above.
The idea is OK, but you should take programs that exist on both platforms.
For example sum up all the download of poker games for PalmOS, and compare to
the sum of all download of PocketPC poker games.
Repeat for several domains.
Last time I did it, it was rather like 70/30. But maybe it has actually drifted
in PalmOS favour, I don't know.
I also believe that PalmGear download figures cannot be trusted. They are not
sincere, or there are bugs in their counting systems. I know there are problems
because I used to sell at PalmGear.
One last thing: the sales/download ratio is likely to be different for PalmOS
and PocketPC applications.
For PalmOS applications it's under 1%. I have no idea about PocketPC apps ratio
as I am selling no PocketPC app at this time.
Christophe
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