Apple Offers Trial Versions of Paid App Store Offerings

Apple's launch this week of a new "Free on the App Store" marketing category means that iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users now have an easy way to try out "lite" versions of selected premium mobile apps and games without charge. The new Apps Store segment also includes full software offerings that are entirely free, together with a new Genius tool for more easily finding personally relevant iPad apps.

Though Google's Android Market maintains a one-day return policy on its mobile-app sales, Apple's "try before you buy" offerings give users a no-hassle way to see what premium apps can do. This change is a welcome step in the right direction and far superior to the current Android model, said Lisa Pierce, an independent wireless analyst at the Strategic Networks Group.

"In and of itself, it won't create more exposure for less-popular applications or developers, because that's more of an awareness issue," Pierce said. "But the change creates less perceived risk, and so improves customer satisfaction and loyalty for Apple, and likely some additional revenue for developers -- I just can't say which ones for certain."

Repositioning Premium Apps

Given that the Google and Apple mobile marketplaces now offer thousands of apps to choose from, users do need better ways of painlessly finding what works best for them. This explains why these online stores are experimenting with various approaches that can improve app buyer experiences, noted Al Hilwa, director of application development software at IDC.

"I see this as a maturation process of the model," Hilwa said, but "in this case, I am not sure we have heard the whole story."

For one thing, the new approach will force developers to create separate versions of their products in order to take advantage of Apple's enhanced marketing opportunity. Moreover, Hilwa thinks the "try before you buy" launch is more a direct way of positioning the premium versions of some apps.

This launches a new "category intended to invite users to try them and be aware that their functionality is perhaps not as rich as a sister for-pay app that is available," Hilwa said. This is "likely with a priori approval of the app developer."

It may also be a way to introduce apps which carry advertising, Hilwa observed. "So it will serve as an indirect way to notify the user 'Caution, app carries ads,'" he said.

Altering the Media Narrative

Participation in free ad-supported apps for popular smartphone platforms is one of the methods that marketing professionals are likely to consider. Another is the launch of Web 2.0-based apps that smartphone users can access directly from a handset's browser.

A consumer survey by ABI Research in February found that about 15 percent of the mobile-phone subscribers who access the Internet at least occasionally had never used their phone's search engine, used a mobile yellow pages, or clicked on a mobile web advertisement. The research firm also predicts that 60 percent of the installed base of mobile handsets worldwide will contain browsers in 2015 -- equivalent to 3.8 billion mobile handsets.

Hilwa believes it's less cumbersome for app-store providers like Apple to distribute mobile apps under a free trial arrangement than to implement a more liberal return policy like the Android Market. "Apple has not spelled out its intent on this, and it may yet have to clarify it more for this channel to catch on with both developers and users," he said.


source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20100806/tc_nf/74648

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