MobiHand, New Multi-Platform Software Portal Debuts

Posted By: Ryan Tuesday, December 7, 2004 4:45:02 PM

MobiHand, today announced the first module of the MobiReach Suite, a new multi-platform online portal for mobile software. The site is focused on carrying best in class mobile software and offers all software developers better commission rates.

From MobiHand, The online software catalog consisting of only best-of-breed applications provides unique, compelling benefits to the software buyers. Users don't have to search through thousands of applications to find the best and most trusted software; they can now save time while having a great experience. Mobile users can navigate the software catalog by platform, device types or categories and, as more titles are added, they can access the only complete "best of" collection available on the market today. To celebrate the launch of the new site, during the month of December, MobiHand will offer visitors sales promotions, free applications, as well as the latest smartphones and PDAs through sweepstakes and contests.

"We strongly believe that in order for developers to create better applications for mobile users, they have to be financially motivated," said MobiHand's president, Sebastian Dijmarescu. "Therefore, we started with the lowest commission rates in the industry and we plan to decrease them even more in the future, as the business grows."

MobiHand is founded by a former head of marketing for one of the top software developers. The company is initially offering developers a 29% commission fee. This is below the usual industry established rate, which has been steadily increasing over the years. The two leading portals, Motricity and Handango, currently charge developers an average commission of around 35% - 45% of all sales that developers earn.

In August 2004, a number of leading mobile developers began to organize an effort to create a union against software portals. ESD-UNION had claimed that commission rates had significantly increased over the last few years without sufficient justification.

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First Post!

dmacdonald95 @ 12/7/2004 8:09:03 PM #

:-) How do you purchase stuff from this system, if anyone wants to shed some light on it? Can I do it from my Desktop? Do I require a Palm Web Browser? I have lots of questions :P

Palm Zire -> Palm Zire 31

Big whoop

mclove @ 12/8/2004 12:36:14 AM #

29% commission? And this is supposed to be GOOD? Shaving a few percentage points off of the PG/Handango rate doesn't make it any less ridiculous - credit card / PayPal still runs 2.5% or less and 27.5% of gross sales buys an awful lot of advertising.

On top of which, they're offering an introductory 10% discount on everything, the lion's share of which no doubt comes out of the developer's pocket.

RE: Big whoop

pmjoe @ 12/8/2004 5:27:36 AM #

Yeah, I have to agree. The rates from these handheld software portals are highway robbery. I did a quick search, but I think it's only 5% on Amazon.com, plus $40/month. So, I think if you sold 16 or more a month, you'd be ahead (sorry if my quick math is off here). Not for the really small time vendors, but this site is supposed to be the "best of" apps.

I mean what services do these companies seriously think they are providing that is worth 29%-45% of the sale price??? It's a web site, good grief! Anyone who's developed a Palm app ought to know better than to fall for this kind of rip-off. I can't off the top of my head think of another market where the commission rate is this high, but maybe I'm just not that knowledgeable in this area. Seems like 20% would be the MAXIMUM.

Aren't there any "free" sites out there to support this kind of thing? Just a database of handheld software that links people to the author's website and let the authors use PayPal other other means to handle payment.

I'd strongly encourage all Palm OS users out there to buy direct from the authors whenever possible instead of allowing this kind of rip-off to occur. There ought to be boycotts of the worst offenders with regards to high commission rates. Otherwise, we're just going to chase away the small-time and hobbyist developers that make the Palm OS great.

RE: Big whoop

pmjoe @ 12/8/2004 5:56:33 AM #

> if you sold 16 or more a month

sorry, I was using a $10 app as a base for this.

RE: Big whoop

mclove @ 12/8/2004 9:42:03 AM #

Well I'll admit that if this site were to spend massive amounts on advertising and limit its pool of developers to a very small group (this "best-of-breed" idea seems likely to be short-lived), that might be worth a larger percentage of sales, just like when PalmGear charged 20% it didn't really seem all that unreasonable since it was a lot easier to get your product noticed on their site. A genuinely dedicated marketing partner can do wonders for one's sales. But unfortunately I think it looks like these guys are just trying to get in on the very lucrative racket that Handango and PalmGear are currently running. And as long as the competition between these sites is over customers rather than developers, it's doubtful we'll see much of a move towards lowering rates.

BTW, there are actually quite a few reasonably-priced download catalogs out there, they just don't seem to be very popular among Palm users - CNET Download.com for example offers most of the basic catalog features that PalmGear does but charges a flat $80/year (and offers a pay-for-performance advertising option as opposed to PalmGear's fixed monthly fees). It's not too popular in the US but it gets me a lot of sales in Asia for some reason.

Best-of-Breed?

Strider_mt2k @ 12/8/2004 6:21:40 AM #

"The online software catalog consisting of only best-of-breed applications..."

What exactly is the criteria used to determine this "best-of-breed" designation?

RE: Best-of-Breed?

Gar @ 12/8/2004 9:26:51 AM #

Does Best-of-Breed and no clutter mean no 'Freeware'?
What all the review sites complain about the competition is software being listed as new or updated when it isn't. I would hope these folks have put some muscle behind watching for this.
What advertising are they going to do? Anyone can put a site up to sell software, but if you can't bring the customers then any percent they charge is too much.

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My wife has to sell a lot of candles (www.ccandles.com) to buy her new Palm.