As the number of developers creating Symbian OS applications grows, finding successful sales channels is getting harder. I looks Nokia Software Market with Tom Ojala, CEO of Symmetria Software, to find out why it is different.
According to Tom there are two fundamental problems with the channels developers commonly use to sell software: volume and timing.
In most of the independent channels an "all comers" philosophy means that it is hard to differentiate an individual application from the overall volume of applications and content. "Developers are not making more money as the demand for third-party applications on S60 devices grows," says Tom. "This is because it is so hard to get exposure amongst thousands of competing titles in the open channels. In order to gain sales, developers need to allocate a lot of time and money to their marketing. In this situation the channel is always a winner, not the developer."
Tom believes Nokia Software Market addresses this issue because it is selective about the software it sells and consciously guards its catalog from saturation with an excess amount of "just any" content. "I feel Nokia Software Market can offer developers a better value proposition, as we are strict about the quality of the content we offer," says Tom. "At the same time we have a healthy balance between quality and quantity; sufficient quantity to attract customers and keep the portfolio fresh, but with the quality criteria set high enough to maintain good visibility opportunities for the developers we work with."
Even with this philosophy in place growth at Nokia Software Market this year has been quite phenomenal. In January it supplied roughly 1000 titles (encompassing applications and content such as themes) from 100 developers. This has now growing to close on 6000 titles from 500 developers.
However, is the quality message at odd with the growth in the catalog? "For us the most important business driver is definitely the quality of the applications in our catalog, not quantity," says Tom. "We believe that as we have grown the size of the catalog we have also been able to maintain and improve the quality of the titles we ship. We know this is the case as we are seeing lower relative customer support requests and lower relative refund rates."
In other channels, where the number of applications in the catalogs is lower, the problem for developers is one of timing. Early adopters customize their phones and add software roughly two weeks after they purchase a new device, according to Tom. This means that the demand for software is highest in the first couple of months after a new device is launched.
To illustrate the impact of new devices, Tom points out that applications in the categories of navigation, personal productivity and games (which account for over 1000 titles) sell best. Prior to the launch of the Nokia N95 multimedia computer, however, navigation applications were a minor category within the market. The launch of the N95 moved the navigation category to the top of the best seller list, with growth of over 500% since the start of 2007. Overall the Nokia N95 has had a big impact, with its users buying twice as much software for their devices than users of any other S60 model.
"Almost every other channel lack the capability we have to bring tested, quality applications to the market at the time devices reach the retailers," says Tom. "If you check most managed channels and portals you will see that it can be three to six months after a device launch before they have applications ready for 'new' devices. We hand-test every software item in our shop against every device make and model, and have the resources to ensure the latest devices are supported with a catalog of software from day one. I don't believe there is any other channel that can have a full portfolio of content available for purchase as a device ships."
This approach has reaped it rewards, overall sales at Nokia Software Market have grown 250% since the beginning the 2007, with ninety percent of those sales generated by S60 devices.
Much of the growth in sales and traffic comes from Europe, with Italy, the UK, and Germany the leaders. Tom notes, however, that the USA, India, Indonesia, and the Arab Emirates are growing fast. In fact, traffic from the USA has more than doubled in just a few months. The Arab Emirates is one of the locations with the highest demand for software for the Nokia E90 Communicator. Tom also mentions that the average value of a purchase by a Nokia E90 owner is fifty percent above the average purchase.
The growth at Nokia Software Market is reaping significant benefits for developers. Take SBSH Papyrus, an enhanced calendar application for smartphones. The application had been in the market for two years before SBSH Mobile Software started selling it on Nokia Software Market. In just a few months Nokia Software Market became Papyrus' leading distribution channel.
"Not only did we gain a new successful distribution channel, but we also saw sales of SBSH Papyrus quadruple in the first few months of working with Symmetria," says Amit Regev, CEO of SBSH Mobile Software. "We've completely restructured our company's development plans for the S60 platform as a result of our great experience with Symmetria Software and plan to introduce new innovative solutions for the S60 platform with help from the Symmetria team in the coming months."
As the range of applications for S60 devices grows the need to differentiate applications is increasing. The game is becoming as much about the classic 5Ps of marketing and for Tom "place" means Nokia Software Market. "I'm confident that we have the broadest portfolio of quality S60 applications in the world and through that are building a strong customer base," says Tom. "Because we are selective and have the ability to deliver applications to the market in a timely fashion, we are able to serve developers better. We are seeing clear increases in the demand for good applications and to fulfill that demand I believe we have a channel that offers developers a true partnership approach. Successful developers ultimately means a more successful Nokia Software Market."
Nokia Software Market is accessible through a Web interface from a desktop or mobile device. In addition, it is also represented in the Catalogs section of the Downloads! application found on most recent S60 devices.
Nokia Software Market supports nine different languages and sells globally. Symmetria Software handles the end-to-end processes for everything, starting from content recruitment, contractual matters, testing, and content management all the way to marketing, delivery, customer support, and revenue handling.
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