I can’t make heads or tails of this, but the cost of mobile applications varies widely between different mobile platforms, or sometimes not at all. There’s no consistency. It’s all over the map. For simplicity, I’ve decided only to compare iPhone vs. BlackBerry applications.

Let me show you some examples:

BlackBerry app more expensive than iPhone app

iPhone/iPod

Scrabble_iTunes

BlackBerry

Scrabble_bb

iPhone app more expensive that BlackBerry app

iPhone/iPod

Madden_iTunes

BlackBerry

Madden_bb

iPhone and BlackBerry app priced exactly the same

iPhone/iPod

UNO_iTunes

BlackBerry

UNO_bb

While both BlackBerry and iTunes have many free apps, only iTunes seems to have inventory of $.99 apps. With BlackBerry, after free, the applications cost $2.99 and up. Most wouldn’t think much between $1 and $3, but that is THREE TIMES AS MUCH.

A few top selling $.99 iPhone applications

99_iTunes

In this sample I only looked at games, not productivity applications. When you get into that space the price varies even more widely, especially when you start comparing Windows Mobile applications which back in the day could cost hundreds of dollars on Handango. Now productivity applications have come down to a more reasonable arena of about $29, but it’s still violently more expensive than other applications. I’m just confused as to why the pricing of the mobile applications have no rhyme or reason to them. I don’t track the gaming market that closely, but I can say that when a game is released on the three major platforms (XBOX 360, PS3, Wii) it’s priced the same. So why isn’t it the same for mobile platforms?

Possible explanations for the complete inconsistency in mobile application pricing:

  • Who cares? It’s usually less than $5.
  • Nobody is deciding between an iPhone or a BlackBerry app. They’re deciding whether they’re going to get the app at all, so they never compare prices on other platforms.
  • The cost of applications is never a deciding factor when purchasing a mobile device.
  • Pricing for mobile applications is far from settled. We’re all still in a “figuring it out phase.”

Got some other explanation? Let me know.