Finance Matters

Archive for April 1st, 2010

From TechCrunch:

According to a new study released by PR Week and PR Newswire, 52% percent of bloggers surveyed consider themselves journalists. This is an increase from 2009’s study, when just one in three had the same opinion. However, despite this, only 20% of bloggers obtain the majority of their income from their blogs; which is an 4% increase from 2009.

Read more at TechCrunch >

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From TechCrunch:

According to a new study released by PR Week and PR Newswire, 52% percent of bloggers surveyed consider themselves journalists. This is an increase from 2009’s study, when just one in three had the same opinion. However, despite this, only 20% of bloggers obtain the majority of their income from their blogs; which is an 4% increase from 2009.

Read more at TechCrunch >

Join the conversation about this story »

If you’re buying an iPad this weekend, and you want to play some of the best games, get ready to open your wallet wider than you might expect.

Compared to its iPhone offerings, Electronic Arts is charging a significant premium for its iPad applications.

• The Tetris application costs $7.99 on the iPad versus $4.99 on the iPhone.
• Scrabble is $9.99 on the iPad versus $2.99 on the iPhone.

Here’s other expensive apps from EA for the iPad that aren’t on the iPhone:

• Need for Speed is $14.99
• Mirror’s Edge is $12.99
• Command & Conquer is $12.99

This is consistent with what we saw earlier in the app store. The first screen shots of the iPad apps showed developers charging twice as much for their apps.

Gameloft, another big game maker is also charging a premium. Its iPhone games range from $1.99 to $4.99 compared to iPad games which go from $6.99 to $9.99.

We don’t know how long term price levels will shake out. We’re still seeing plenty of cheap and free iPad apps in the store.

Why charge a premium? We think there’s a few reasons:

• Developing an advanced iPad games should yield more advanced results, justifying a higher price.
• There will be less competition at the start, so developers think they can charge more.
• Unlike with the iPhone and iPod touch, there’s only going to be so many iPads sold at first. No one is making up for low prices by selling in volume.
• More so than anything else, it’s a new marketplace, why not charge more and see what happens? If people don’t buy, then just lower the price.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Apple Screws Top Gadget Blogs: No Early iPad Review Units
• The iPad’s Opening Weekend Sales Aren’t Important
• Walt Mossberg Gushes Over The iPad, Calls It ‘Beautiful’, ‘Striking’, And A ‘Pleasure’

If you’re buying an iPad this weekend, and you want to play some of the best games, get ready to open your wallet wider than you might expect.

Compared to its iPhone offerings, Electronic Arts is charging a significant premium for its iPad applications.

• The Tetris application costs $7.99 on the iPad versus $4.99 on the iPhone.
• Scrabble is $9.99 on the iPad versus $2.99 on the iPhone.

Here’s other expensive apps from EA for the iPad that aren’t on the iPhone:

• Need for Speed is $14.99
• Mirror’s Edge is $12.99
• Command & Conquer is $12.99

This is consistent with what we saw earlier in the app store. The first screen shots of the iPad apps showed developers charging twice as much for their apps.

Gameloft, another big game maker is also charging a premium. Its iPhone games range from $1.99 to $4.99 compared to iPad games which go from $6.99 to $9.99.

We don’t know how long term price levels will shake out. We’re still seeing plenty of cheap and free iPad apps in the store.

Why charge a premium? We think there’s a few reasons:

• Developing an advanced iPad games should yield more advanced results, justifying a higher price.
• There will be less competition at the start, so developers think they can charge more.
• Unlike with the iPhone and iPod touch, there’s only going to be so many iPads sold at first. No one is making up for low prices by selling in volume.
• More so than anything else, it’s a new marketplace, why not charge more and see what happens? If people don’t buy, then just lower the price.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Apple Screws Top Gadget Blogs: No Early iPad Review Units
• The iPad’s Opening Weekend Sales Aren’t Important
• Walt Mossberg Gushes Over The iPad, Calls It ‘Beautiful’, ‘Striking’, And A ‘Pleasure’

The media business has been salivating over Apple’s iPad release for years.

Now, the time has come.

Early iPad reviews are out, packages are en route to doorsteps, and some of us are very excited, in spite of ourselves.

Here’s a roundup of recent stories media folks should read about the iPad:

• We tell you why the iPad won’t save the magazine business.
• The Atlantic also looks at the iPad’s limitations as a “Jesus tablet” for the media business.
• Although Ken Doctor thinks their pricing plan for apps is fair.
• The New York Times is releasing a free iPad app.
• So is Bloomberg.
• Hulu jumps on the app bandwagon.
• But forget about Hulu, Netflix is on there too!
• YouTube is already formatted for the iPad.
• Disney makes a bunch of iPad apps. Did you know Steve Jobs is their biggest shareholder?
• More sneak peaks of the Wall Street Journal, NPR, AP and USA Today apps at Nieman Journalism Labs.
• Mathew Ingram is underwhelmed by most media apps so far.
• But he hasn’t been able to try them on the iPad yet. Apple screwed tech blogs on early review units.
• But the New York Times’ David Carr and Brian Stelter get their hands on one and get all fanboy about it.
• Speaking of a fanboy, Carr really loves the iPad. He writes up a bunch of reasons why we should buy one.
• Time Warner gets the iPad seal of approval.
• Apple has a tally of iPad-ready sites including NYTimes, CNN, Sports Illustrated, Reuters, Vimeo, and more.
• The iPad gets a nice cameo at ABC‘s Modern Family.
• Speaking of ABC, CBS is streaming free shows on the iPad.
• Analyst Ken Doctor does more math on news apps.
• Amazon freaks about the iPad frenzy and tries to strike deals for e-book pricing.
• Self-published authors also get a shot in the iPad store.

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