| Cheebee said: That's funny, since they're the ones who created that whole ecosystem and the mentality that goes with it. |
You're giving Apple a little too much credit. What Apple did is give developers a devkit, a marketplace, and the freedom to price things as they will. With no pricing expectations and an explosion of supply, that freedom to set price drove prices to near zero. Developers set those prices, and consumers paid them, not Apple.
That being said, if Apple was really agitated by software prices, they wouldn't frequently feature freemium apps as an Editor's Choice. And they wouldn't have started giving away their own apps, which were performing quite well at $5 and $10, further devaluing software in the minds of consumers.
The good news is that the death of premium games in mobile has always been a myth. Veteran strategy developer Slitherine just launched their 7th game on iPad priced at $10 or more, and some games earn far more money if they switch to premium pricing than they make as freemium apps:
http://toucharcade.com/2014/07/25/big-action-mega-fight-succeeding-as-paid-game/
The reality is that both business models are viable, and each is suited to different games and different customers.
"The worst part about these reviews is they are [subjective]--and their scores often depend on how drunk you got the media at a Street Fighter event." — Mona Hamilton, Capcom Senior VP of Marketing
*Image indefinitely borrowed from BrainBoxLtd without his consent.
