"reddit is so weird... I submitted this story when we wrote the damn thing and it got voted into the ground.... it get's reblogged 6 times and now people care?"
- Dan Bachelder
There's some interesting data and analysis here. I take some issue with the analysis, though (e.g. some low volume paid apps with high prices probably can make a good amount of money, you've got to take into account app updates rising to the tops of the lists, and he doesn't consider how promotion outside the App Store can affect downloads.
- dan melinger
Hi Dan, thanks for sharing our link and commenting! What do you mean about app updates rising to the top? Only frequently downloaded apps make it to the top of the popularity list... unless I'm misunderstanding you.
- Dan Bachelder
Oops, forget to also ask, what you mean about the promotion outside the app store? This article isn't dealing with the affect of promotion on sales... Thanks! we just want to make sure we're not missing anything....
- Dan Bachelder
Re: app updates, I think (could be wrong) Apple takes into account new app versions when rising apps to the top of the new release lists so developers are kind of given another opportunity at the top. Re: external promotion, I totally realize you're not dealing with that in your post. Just wanted to call attention to that fact since advertising, p.r., and other forms of external promotion can certainly get people to buy your app. Overall, great piece, though. I haven't seen such a good analysis before!
- dan melinger
Our analysis isn't of the new release list, it's of the popularity ranks of each category. The release dates of apps shouldn't play into these numbers, unless we completely missed something.
- Dan Bachelder