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BlackBerry is banking on the new operating system (BB-10), with 70,000 plus applications, for a reversal in its fortunes. While the new platform has received appreciation, there are also concerns whether the makeover will bring adequate revenue to app developers.
According to the community, a good user interface (UI) and a better touch-screen notwithstanding, a declining market share globally has raised questions on monetisation of the platform.
“The platform has created a lot of buzz amongst the developers and if you ask me it has the potential to challenge some of the other established players. However, any change cannot happen overnight,” Jamshed V. Rajan, chief product officer, Nimbuzz said. But the big question that should be answered is on monetisation of apps.
Monetisation
Market sources admit that developers have been hesitant with the BlackBerry App world. If you take the iPhone, one understands that the user has the propensity to pay for the apps. But BlackBerry is now more popular amongst the college students whose propensity to use a paid app is very low, a developer said on condition of anonymity.
A developer who earlier worked with BlackBerry points out that the company was slow to respond to developer queries.
A decline in market share for BlackBerry (around 2 per cent globally) compared to Android and Apple (which put together dominates 90 per cent of the market) too is a point of concern.
“The ultimate success of the platform depends on how popular the platform is amongst the end-users or how popular the Blackberry handsets are,” Nimbuzz’s Rajan adds, pointing out that the company needs to resolve its medium of payment.
However, Vaideeswaran Sethuraman of Divum does not agree. He points out that BlackBerry will incentivise developers in case the app does not make more than $10,000 a year. The app, however, needs to have more than $1,000 worth of annual sales.
Game developments
According to Sethuraman, BlackBerry has separated the hardware and software components thereby making the handset more user-friendly. “Users will have a far superior gaming experience on the platform now,” he adds.
Nextwave’s S. Rajendran too seems to be betting big on the success of BB-10 as a high-end gaming platform.
“A developer is allowed to port his games from Android (to BlackBerry) thereby reducing costs. This was one of the reasons why developers shied away from the platform,” he said.
Market sources say that it being a less populated platform, an early entry to the BlackBerry App world would mean greater chances of getting noticed.
abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in
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