Adverse response to new Apple Map app creates £4 million windfall for competitors in the initial launch month
Following the failure of Apple's Map app in the new iOS 6 release to work successfully, mapping competitors to the cult manufacturer are finding their products are now making more money, new research shows.
This week the iOS 6 Maps app debacle carried on as users continue to unfold new worlds around them that they didn't know existed, because they do not. Because of Apple's Map app's creative take on the world, analysis from Simon-Kucher & Partners, global strategy consultants, reveals that previously free apps can in fact command a price thanks to iOS 6.
Reports of issues with the new iPhone map app correspond with a climb up the ranking tables of competing apps, the research shows. Based on analysis of rankings, it is estimated that scrapping Google Maps from iOS could trigger extra consumer expenditure of £4 million in the first month as alternative products are purchased.
The unintentional impact of Apple's actions highlights the opportunity for an alternative revenue model, Simon-Kucher consultant, Adrian Pusz, said: 'If product quality is low, even free can be a poor value proposition. Micro-transaction models like the App Store provide the opportunity to unbundle even the most basic smartphone features and to more directly monetise their value.'
One of those competitors is TomTom, a navigation provider, which in a shrewd pricing move implemented a 25% price increase this week, raising product prices to £49.99 in the UK and Euro 49.99 in Germany.
The new iOS version was made available on 19 September and since then, there has been a rapid race up the rankings for competing apps. TomTom's position rose overnight Europe-wide, in the UK from 17th place to eighth, in Germany from 73rd position to 38th, and in France from 13th to ninth.
Mark Billige, managing partner of the Simon-Kucher UK office and telecoms pricing expert, conlcuded: 'Looking ahead, players should consider the quality end of the market rather than a default mentality of cheap or free. In a crowded market place it may be better to have fewer apps of higher quality rather than trying to win market share with a wide selection of mediocre products.'
