Appstore clearout due….
May 22nd, 2009I recently got an email asking me to renew my developer account, and noticed that it implied that not only did I require the subscription to submit apps and test on real hardware, but to continue sales of existing apps.
That means, when a developer subscription expires, their apps will be removed from sale.
Anybody not making money, or just bored will not renew, and as a result thousands of (cr)Apps will disapear from the Appstore.
This hasn’t shown much yet as the store is still <1 year old, and only a few thousand select developers got accounts approved before the store opened. However, in the months following the opening a gold rush started and every man and his dog started making whatever they could to push out in hopes of a lucky strike.
After July, I expect mostsy in August/September a large number of these accounts will be up for renewel. I cant wait.
I imagine the novelty of paying $99 a year in order to distribute free apps will have worn off. Also, anyone who has seen their sales drop so low they dont receive a payment will also wonder if they should renew. People who did it because it was new, for fun, during a gap year etc will all expire.
I hear people saying, but wont it just fill up with new Apps from new accounts?
I dont think so. The gold rush is over, the quality level has raised substantialy, and in order to sell an app you need to make a good one. There will no doubt be a constant influx of new developers, but I think it will decrease from the initial gold rush at the start. I also hope the new developers will be better, more experienced in coding and the quality level will continue to rise.
In short, I see good things for the Appstore. Less chaff, more wheat.
Good for Apple, good for developers, and good for customers.