"Even more worrisome are the reports now that MacroSolve is extorting app developers in the same way for using forms in their applications."
The sharks smell the blood and home in on their helpless prey. I suspect many more patent trolls will raise their ugly heads in the weeks to come: grab what you can, while you can.
The prey, in the meantime, is calculating how long they can stay profitable against the rising army of patent trolls. Maybe paying 45% to patent trolls, 30% to Apple, still leaves them with 25% of AppStore revenue for their own. That might still a viable business model to keep developing for iOS, and might pay the rent.
Most apps who are able to make anything at all average somewhere around $4000-7000 in sales for the lifetime of their app. I can attest to that firsthand. Even at 70% it is not a viable business model for most (except for the <1% who are fortunate enough to make a lot of money in the app store). If every damned patent troll comes out of the woodwork claiming their share, then it will even be less worthwhile than it is now.
The sharks smell the blood and home in on their helpless prey. I suspect many more patent trolls will raise their ugly heads in the weeks to come: grab what you can, while you can.
The prey, in the meantime, is calculating how long they can stay profitable against the rising army of patent trolls. Maybe paying 45% to patent trolls, 30% to Apple, still leaves them with 25% of AppStore revenue for their own. That might still a viable business model to keep developing for iOS, and might pay the rent.