It will be very interesting to see if the drop in Comixology sales is more than the 30% they're trying to save.
This is very similar to the manufacturer of a consumer product that used to be available at major retailers deciding to go with direct sales only. They always forget to factor in that the convenience of being in the major retailer was a larger factor in their success than the product itself.
Would you rather have no sale, or sales that you lose money on?
Do you think comics are sold with a profit margin of over 30%? Probably not, so Apple's cut will eat all of Amazon's profit and then some. Amazon would lose money on every single sale.
I was always confused that Newsstand didn’t offer them…
Marvel and DC are separate (although they sell through Comixology). It would be interesting if Apple talked to them and made a deal whereby their comics are made available through Apple.
One can't do IAPs from Amazon on Android neither. I'm all for a 30% if Apple or Google handle the storage, delivery, and transaction, but if all they're doing is handing the transaction and Amazon handles the storage, and delivery then 30% is indeed greedy and impossible for Amazon to make any money.
You're completely missing the point. The App Store is the largest marketplace in the world and the one to focus on if you want to make money. By bypassing IAPs in the Kindle and Comixology apps, Amazon are cutting their nose off to spite their face. Amazon don't care because it's just another source of revenue. But the income lost from not using IAPs will affect the content creators-the writers and artists.
No-one wants the hassle of going to a website to buy digital content; they want to buy it directly in the app. That way, you have a central repository for all your content, which you know will be accessible and downloadable for decades to come on any Apple device you own. Who would you rather put your trust in—Amazon, who have been making a loss for several years, or Apple, who for several years have been making a profit of about $40 billion per year?
Do you think comics are sold with a profit margin of over 30%? Probably not, so Apple's cut will eat all of Amazon's profit and then some. Amazon would lose money on every single sale.
35% is what I've read that Comixology was getting. Do you have different information?
Except that the actual contents of the vending machine are not in the store. You're paying for the product at Walmart but they're not the ones that deliver the product. It's more like Mastercard telling Walmart "your customers are using us to pay for products from you, so for that convenience we charge 30%". No store is going to agree with those terms.
Wrong. Your analogy is just as stupid as the Ford example.
The App Store is like Walmart. Just like Walmart has expenses (operating the store, utility and electrical costs, paying employees to run the store, property taxes) so does the App Store. And just like Walmart has goods in stock, so does the App Store. They might be digital goods, but they are goods nonetheless.
Walmart has a right to make a profit on anything that goes through their store. So does Apple.
Wrong. Your analogy is just as stupid as the Ford example.
The App Store is like Walmart. Just like Walmart has expenses (operating the store, utility and electrical costs, paying employees to run the store, property taxes) so does the App Store. And just like Walmart has goods in stock, so does the App Store. They might be digital goods, but they are goods nonetheless.
Walmart has a right to make a profit on anything that goes through their store. So does Apple.
Except that the goods never go through the store. Can you not comprehend that? It's like paying at Walmart but getting your product delivered from Kmart.
You're completely missing the point. The App Store is the largest marketplace in the world and the one to focus on if you want to make money. By bypassing IAPs in the Kindle and Comixology apps, Amazon are cutting their nose off to spite their face. Amazon don't care because it's just another source of revenue. But the income lost from not using IAPs will affect the content creators-the writers and artists.
No-one wants the hassle of going to a website to buy digital content; they want to buy it directly in the app. That way, you have a central repository for all your content, which you know will be accessible and downloadable for decades to come on any Apple device you own. Who would you rather put your trust in—Amazon, who have been making a loss for several years, or Apple, who for several years have been making a profit of about $40 billion per year?
But now the comics are available across multiple platforms. They might lose some customers but they'll gain a great many more.
Apple hosts the entire app. Promotes the app. Ensures security and availability of the app... And charges 30% to be part of the iOS ecosystem which includes their legendary security and delivery.
And the haters come out to praise amazon for making life more difficult for the app user. iOS just works. It's smooth. It's reliable. It's trustworthy. Now amazon wants to make customers feel like they're using an android. Yuck.
Funny how all of a sudden the haters (or amazon employees) deride apple for charging money to maintain, grow, and enhance their data enters which host the apps, but say nothing about amazons draconian policies. Try publishing a kindle ebook. You pay amazon 30% right? Wrong. Hen there are various other fees depending on how your customer chose to have amazon deliver the ebook to them. When a is said and done, you've laid closer to 45-50%.
And that's also a big reason why people embraced iBooks. Apple hurt amazons racket. With iBooks, you pay apple 30% and that's it. Every time.
Working on my fifth multiplatform ebook. Amazon is always the one you hope isn't taking the majority of your sales.
In app purchasing makes sense in a magazine/comics/periodical app. It feels natural and like it's supposed to be that way. It makes it easy on the consumer and makes sure that process is transparent. Amazon just undid years of progress.
Just like they are trying to to with iBooks.
As far as comixology... They were successful. They didn't have to sell. Sucks that they did. I bought a few choice comics from them and relived some childhood. I enjoyed it.
But this isn't comixology anymore. It's amazon by another name.
I tried to cancel my account last night. Guess what. There is no way to do so. I had to contact tech support. And they are "working on that for me." I got an email a few minutes later and clicked it. Then the website "congratulated" me and told me my iPad account is now synced with their website. Creepy. Especially since the link wasn't about that. And I didn't want it.
Bad news all the way. If you need comics, I highly recommend the standalone Dc app which is very excellent and present everything in stunning retina quality.
As for marvel. Get the marvel comics standalone app.
Both are better looking and working then amazons app. And both offer iap.
You seem to be slow to grasp this but Apple sets some rules for apps in their app store, and guess what? They allow what amazon are doing, so what is your issue?
No you are slow, one day Apple won't allow the parasite called Amazon to squat and when that happens, many like you will be crying Apple is evil as usual, Amazon and Google are currently freeloading within the Appstore.
Do you think comics are sold with a profit margin of over 30%? Probably not, so Apple's cut will eat all of Amazon's profit and then some. Amazon would lose money on every single sale.
Isn't that Amazon's M.O. lose money make no profit freeload whenever possible? And have Wall Street reward them.
That way, you have a central repository for all your content, which you know will be accessible and downloadable for decades to come on any Apple device you own. Who would you rather put your trust in—Amazon, who have been making a loss for several years, or Apple, who for several years have been making a profit of about $40 billion per year?
With the Amazon purchasing route, the content is stored in the Amazon cloud and made available to any device that they support, not just Apple devices. I'm really curious to see if any of these systems is going to store purchased content for decades.
Also - what loss "for several years"? The only annual loss I see in their 2010-to-present financials is 2012.
2010 - Net Income - $1.1B
2011 - Net Income - $631M
2012 - Net Loss - $39M
2013 - Net Income - $274M
It will be very interesting to see if the drop in Comixology sales is more than the 30% they're trying to save.
Indeed. And how long before they're back in the App Store. Or maybe they give up all together and we get comics some other way in the App Store. Fingers crossed...
If you need comics, I highly recommend the standalone Dc app which is very excellent and present everything in stunning retina quality.
As for marvel. Get the marvel comics standalone app.
Both are better looking and working then amazons app. And both offer iap.
Boom. Done.
These are still working normally? Thank you very much for the head's up, I am going to get those. I never bothered to before because I always just used the Comixology app so that all my purchased comics, no matter what publisher, could all be accessed in the same place. But if those two apps are still operating, that is a small price to pay indeed to continue using the App Store.
Except that the goods never go through the store. Can you not comprehend that? It's like paying at Walmart but getting your product delivered from Kmart.
I comprehend it just fine. The goods might not actually go through the store (for things like subscriptions), but everything else that needs to be done to make the transaction possible is handled by Apple.
Why is it that people try to minimize the impact the App Store has, as if all Apple does is handle payments (like Moneris, for example)? You're forgetting that without Apple, Amazon (Comixology) doesn't have access to close to 800 million potential customers. Most of them with credit cards ALREADY on file. And customers who are proven through countless studies to spend more than other platforms do (like Android).
Paying Apple 30% is your cost to get access to the best platform in the world to sell your goods. If I was a manufacturer of a product and approached Walmart to get a national deal to sell my products in their stores, do you think Walmart isn't going to negotiate for the lowest possible price and in return they're going to give me access to the highest possible number of customers? What I lose by selling for less I make up for in greater sales.
BTW, I can purchase goods at Walmart where the product is in fact delivered by someone else not related to Walmart at all. For example, gift cards for restaurants. Do you think Walmart lets them hang them up for display in their store for free? What about iTunes gift cards? Or game time cards for online games? None of these are provided by Walmart - all they do is handle the transaction for a "subscription" to goods that someone else provides you in the end.
Comments
Would you rather have no sale, or sales that you lose money on?
Was Comixology losing money?
Do you think comics are sold with a profit margin of over 30%? Probably not, so Apple's cut will eat all of Amazon's profit and then some. Amazon would lose money on every single sale.
I was always confused that Newsstand didn’t offer them…
Marvel and DC are separate (although they sell through Comixology). It would be interesting if Apple talked to them and made a deal whereby their comics are made available through Apple.
Even funnier if they became exclusives.
Such a faff, though. I just want to see it as the artist intended, rather than zooming in on a tiny portion.
You're completely missing the point. The App Store is the largest marketplace in the world and the one to focus on if you want to make money. By bypassing IAPs in the Kindle and Comixology apps, Amazon are cutting their nose off to spite their face. Amazon don't care because it's just another source of revenue. But the income lost from not using IAPs will affect the content creators-the writers and artists.
No-one wants the hassle of going to a website to buy digital content; they want to buy it directly in the app. That way, you have a central repository for all your content, which you know will be accessible and downloadable for decades to come on any Apple device you own. Who would you rather put your trust in—Amazon, who have been making a loss for several years, or Apple, who for several years have been making a profit of about $40 billion per year?
35% is what I've read that Comixology was getting. Do you have different information?
Wrong. Your analogy is just as stupid as the Ford example.
The App Store is like Walmart. Just like Walmart has expenses (operating the store, utility and electrical costs, paying employees to run the store, property taxes) so does the App Store. And just like Walmart has goods in stock, so does the App Store. They might be digital goods, but they are goods nonetheless.
Walmart has a right to make a profit on anything that goes through their store. So does Apple.
They already do and have been for a while.
Except that the goods never go through the store. Can you not comprehend that? It's like paying at Walmart but getting your product delivered from Kmart.
Do you have a link? Would you settle for 5% if you did the storing and distributing, and pay 30% as a transaction fee?
But now the comics are available across multiple platforms. They might lose some customers but they'll gain a great many more.
Apple hosts the entire app. Promotes the app. Ensures security and availability of the app... And charges 30% to be part of the iOS ecosystem which includes their legendary security and delivery.
And the haters come out to praise amazon for making life more difficult for the app user. iOS just works. It's smooth. It's reliable. It's trustworthy. Now amazon wants to make customers feel like they're using an android. Yuck.
Funny how all of a sudden the haters (or amazon employees) deride apple for charging money to maintain, grow, and enhance their data enters which host the apps, but say nothing about amazons draconian policies. Try publishing a kindle ebook. You pay amazon 30% right? Wrong. Hen there are various other fees depending on how your customer chose to have amazon deliver the ebook to them. When a is said and done, you've laid closer to 45-50%.
And that's also a big reason why people embraced iBooks. Apple hurt amazons racket. With iBooks, you pay apple 30% and that's it. Every time.
Working on my fifth multiplatform ebook. Amazon is always the one you hope isn't taking the majority of your sales.
In app purchasing makes sense in a magazine/comics/periodical app. It feels natural and like it's supposed to be that way. It makes it easy on the consumer and makes sure that process is transparent. Amazon just undid years of progress.
Just like they are trying to to with iBooks.
As far as comixology... They were successful. They didn't have to sell. Sucks that they did. I bought a few choice comics from them and relived some childhood. I enjoyed it.
But this isn't comixology anymore. It's amazon by another name.
I tried to cancel my account last night. Guess what. There is no way to do so. I had to contact tech support. And they are "working on that for me." I got an email a few minutes later and clicked it. Then the website "congratulated" me and told me my iPad account is now synced with their website. Creepy. Especially since the link wasn't about that. And I didn't want it.
Bad news all the way.
If you need comics, I highly recommend the standalone Dc app which is very excellent and present everything in stunning retina quality.
As for marvel. Get the marvel comics standalone app.
Both are better looking and working then amazons app. And both offer iap.
Boom. Done.
The only thing they're doing differently is trashing the iOS version.
You seem to be slow to grasp this but Apple sets some rules for apps in their app store, and guess what? They allow what amazon are doing, so what is your issue?
No you are slow, one day Apple won't allow the parasite called Amazon to squat and when that happens, many like you will be crying Apple is evil as usual, Amazon and Google are currently freeloading within the Appstore.
Do you think comics are sold with a profit margin of over 30%? Probably not, so Apple's cut will eat all of Amazon's profit and then some. Amazon would lose money on every single sale.
Isn't that Amazon's M.O. lose money make no profit freeload whenever possible? And have Wall Street reward them.
With the Amazon purchasing route, the content is stored in the Amazon cloud and made available to any device that they support, not just Apple devices. I'm really curious to see if any of these systems is going to store purchased content for decades.
Also - what loss "for several years"? The only annual loss I see in their 2010-to-present financials is 2012.
2010 - Net Income - $1.1B
2011 - Net Income - $631M
2012 - Net Loss - $39M
2013 - Net Income - $274M
Indeed. And how long before they're back in the App Store. Or maybe they give up all together and we get comics some other way in the App Store. Fingers crossed...
These are still working normally? Thank you very much for the head's up, I am going to get those. I never bothered to before because I always just used the Comixology app so that all my purchased comics, no matter what publisher, could all be accessed in the same place. But if those two apps are still operating, that is a small price to pay indeed to continue using the App Store.
Except that the goods never go through the store. Can you not comprehend that? It's like paying at Walmart but getting your product delivered from Kmart.
I comprehend it just fine. The goods might not actually go through the store (for things like subscriptions), but everything else that needs to be done to make the transaction possible is handled by Apple.
Why is it that people try to minimize the impact the App Store has, as if all Apple does is handle payments (like Moneris, for example)? You're forgetting that without Apple, Amazon (Comixology) doesn't have access to close to 800 million potential customers. Most of them with credit cards ALREADY on file. And customers who are proven through countless studies to spend more than other platforms do (like Android).
Paying Apple 30% is your cost to get access to the best platform in the world to sell your goods. If I was a manufacturer of a product and approached Walmart to get a national deal to sell my products in their stores, do you think Walmart isn't going to negotiate for the lowest possible price and in return they're going to give me access to the highest possible number of customers? What I lose by selling for less I make up for in greater sales.
BTW, I can purchase goods at Walmart where the product is in fact delivered by someone else not related to Walmart at all. For example, gift cards for restaurants. Do you think Walmart lets them hang them up for display in their store for free? What about iTunes gift cards? Or game time cards for online games? None of these are provided by Walmart - all they do is handle the transaction for a "subscription" to goods that someone else provides you in the end.