Android/iOS datapoints

Andre Garzia andre at andregarzia.com
Mon Nov 21 13:49:05 EST 2011


Although I can't offer datapoints. I've been a mobile power user for some
time. I have both iPhone and Android phones and currently I am using my
Android phone as my main phone because I am angry with HP and thus switched
off my Pre2.

People here might not know but Brazil is 9% of the GLOBAL SMARTPHONE
MARKET. Yes, my country may be behind in many things but if there is one
thing we are really good at is communication. Brazil has at least 19
million smartphones (
http://thenextweb.com/la/2011/08/22/smartphone-usage-in-brazil-why-youll-be-surprised/)
and as a developer with tech and non-tech friends, I can see how
trends
are going. Android is winning over iPhone here because Android devices are
cheaper but the iPhone still a success. Brazilians are not keen on paying
for software. Piracy is the norm even in the enterprise. I've seen top
companies here such as one of the top 5 medical labs here run on pirated
copies of windows and office. Every street corner there is a guy with an
easel selling pirate copies of everything from AutoCAD to Wii games. When I
say here that I pay for software, people look at me puzzled like "why are
you doing this?". Now with that mental picture in your mind, pay attention,
Brazilians spend a lot of money in mobile apps, specially games. FREE apps
here will get thousands of downloads, so if you can go with ads, this is
probably the way to go here but commercial mobile apps are also a success.
I have a firm belief that mobile games here in Brazil earn more than the
minimal wage if they are good honest fun casual games.

What I've learned in the last few years is that good technology can fail if
marketed improperly. The opposite is also true, you don't need to have the
best thing around to be a success if you market it properly. There are
thousands of good mobile apps that are not successful, I think this is due
to poor marketing skills. The hardest thing is to get noticed and to get
the initial downloads going up to the snowball point where it will start
selling on its own.

Before placing software on the mobile appstores and praying for reviews, I
think developers should prepare a zero-day huge marketing boost and you can
do it on the cheap. If you are doing an application for a specific market
slice or niche, then find what blogs and publications people interested in
your app read. Give away promo codes to these publications. Send emails to
journalists and important people in that area. Do this on the same day as
you are approved. Marketing is as important as coding these days.

I think it doesn't matter which way you go (iOS or Android) as long as you
can get your little gem noticed.



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