MacRumors is reporting that during Apple’s Q3 2009 conference call held earlier today, several analysts asked Apple executives if they were considering entering the NetBook market. Their response was no shock, because we’ve heard it before. To put it flatly, Apple doesn’t plan on entering that market unless they can figure out a way to make a product they were proud of.
The most groundbreaking news to come out of the conference call today was that Apple is in fact working on a different App ranking system. The current ranking system has been called a “race to the bottom”, meaning prices are artificially low as a way to compete for the most unit sales. The top 100 list in the App Store is currently the premiere place for marketing apps.
I think MacRumors sums it up nicely:
These Top 100 ranks are based on unit sales rather than revenue and are therefore skewed towards lower priced applications. As a result, apps have had to compete with lower prices in order to try to boost their exposure on these lists. Critics of this system have argued that this encourages a “$0.99 economy” which will prevent companies from investing in higher quality titles for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Apple revealed that they are “looking for ways to categorize apps differently” and that there was “opportunity for further improvement and [they] are working on that”.
So, in short, Apple doesn’t plan to enter the netbook market, and they are working on a ways to promote higher priced apps on the App Store.
Mockup courtesy of nexus404.com.
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TAGS: App Store, netbook
