What Should iPhone Applications Cost

A lot of developers are there are asking: What should iPhone applications cost? Unfortunately, there aren't THAT many people that are answering (yet).

But I also don't hear too many customers complaining about the pricing either (they're too busy being thrilled about having their iphone!)

That being said, there are some things to keep in mind when deciding what to charge for your iPhone application.

Here's some criteria:

1) General Rule: iPhone applications are anywhere from $0.99 - $9.99

If you are planning to charge more than that, you'd better have a damn good application.

2) How long would it take someone to recreate it and sell it for cheaper? Chances are, if it's a great application, not too many people could make it for less work than you did and they won't want to go through all that trouble. If you have a great one, you can charge more for the application.

3) How handy is it to someone who buys? If it helps get someone through their day a little easier, generally you can charge more.

4) If it's a program that companies or businesses can use, you can charge more because you are assuming that using your application will save them money/time/effort.

These are some of the iPhone applications I've found in the iTunes store that are "hot" right now.

I've also included their prices here so that you can compare.

Look these up on your own and do some more research to see where you stand at the Apple Store

1) Simple recorder (under business catagory): records memos and reminds you of them. ($0.99)
Pretty handy but nothing glamorous. Also fairly easy to make/recreate.

2) Style.com (lifestyle): lets you browse the fashion going-ons at any given moment. (Free)
This one is less useful than the one above (some would argue, I'm sure) so it's free!

3) Data Case (productivity): File away all of your folders neatly. ($6.99)
Again, much more useful than any of the other ones we've seen so far.

4) Loro English (Education): teaches you English-Spanish or Spanish-English. ($9.99)
Much more complicated and much more useful in a work environment.

5)iChart EMR (Health and Fitness): this is the Electronic Medical Record application that helps doctors/staff keep track of all their patients. ($139.99)
This one goes to show that you are allowed to charge a lot for an iPhone application but that it will have to exceptional.

There is one final thing that I have to the question: what should iPhone applications cost?

They don't have to cost anything for you to still make money.

The other approach to making money from iPhone applications is to use all those "good-old=fashioned" marketing ideas.

Make iPhone applications that companies will want to sponsor to help get their name out.

Make iPhone applications that drive people to YOUR website and buy stuff there.

There are all sorts of ways to do this.

So don't feel down about only getting to charge $0.99 for an iPhone application you spent hours making. You can combine your marketing know-how to this market as well!