Is 1-1-12 a good release day?

keweworkshopkeweworkshop Member Posts: 377
edited December 2011 in Business and Marketing Theory
Now that the timer issues are fixed my app is ready to send off. But now by the time it gets approved, I fear it is getting too close to Christmas and I have read over and over about the warnings of releasing that time of year. So I thought about setting the release day for 1-1-12. Anyone tried to release on New Years? Good idea or bad idea?

Comments

  • keweworkshopkeweworkshop Member Posts: 377
    It's so hard to wait even though it's the right thing to do. Maybe I'll release a few days after the new year, I don't think I can wait much longer than that!
  • ericdg123ericdg123 Member, PRO Posts: 156
    I'm actually releasing everything I can before christmas. I understand that the big guys drop their prices and dominate the appstore but there are so many people getting iTunes gift cards that christmas day is huge for sales.

    For example, last year, I was making around 100 to 130 a day all december long, but on christmas day I made over 800, then the next day was 700, then 600 and so on.

    I think it really depends on if your game is on the charts or not. I had a game that was around 20 something in the racing category in the U.S., which probably contributed to the 700 percent increase in sales.

    I've heard of others that didn't see much of a spike in sales, but it seems many of those had games that you could only find by searching as they were not ranked high enough to be on the charts.

    Just my two cents.
  • ChobbifaceChobbiface PRO Posts: 491
    hmm.. that is interesting, I'm on the same boat as you kewe, now can't decide whether to publish now or wait all the way till January (which seems so far away when you have your first ever app ready!) I'm also on 0.9.8.2 still and wondering if you can still publish on that.
  • ericdg123ericdg123 Member, PRO Posts: 156
    You have to also take into account, january is 30 days away. If you wait, that's 30 days of lost revenue. Plus iTunes is closed down for christmas, so like tshirt said if you wait until january there will be a ridiculous amount of apps waiting to be reviewed. Even more ridiculous than normal that is.
  • MotherHooseMotherHoose Member Posts: 2,456
    edited December 2011
    I, too, think Christmas/eve is a good release date...also note that approval times are much shorter the week before... I had one game go up in 3 hours...from submission to in-the-store...and that generated the most ever sales for 1 day.

    lots of new iPods, iPads going to need some nice filling ...+ the giftCards....

    big guys prices, even if cut, are high...

    you can mark down some of the prices on your older apps... or make some free...to get people to look at your other apps while downloading.

    MH
  • keweworkshopkeweworkshop Member Posts: 377
    Yikes now I am not sure what to do. So many good points. My app is not a game, it's a children's book, I suppose I don't have to worry about the big game developers, I'm in a whole different category. I don't know. Thanks for all the thoughts everyone.
  • ChobbifaceChobbiface PRO Posts: 491
    Hey eric/motherhoose, cheers for the thoughts. As I say, I have my first app ready and have never released an app before. From reading previous posts in the forums, the impression I got was that if you release during Christmas, your app would forever go into obscurity even after the holiday is over (due to not being noticed on release as you're swamped by the big companies). That was my main concern, but if that is not necessarily the case, (and I guess there are so many factors involved), I am seriously considering just wrapping up now and releasing :)
  • keweworkshopkeweworkshop Member Posts: 377
    Well I went ahead and did it, yeek! I decided to release before the new year. It seems everyone experiences something different around this time so I thought I would try it. I set the release day to 12/21. If I get steamrolled than I guess I learned a lesson for next year but I think it is worth the risk. I'm scared!
  • ChobbifaceChobbiface PRO Posts: 491
    @kewe, keep us updated :) I'm joining you tomorrow
  • keweworkshopkeweworkshop Member Posts: 377
    @CBL I would love to share my experience, good or bad. Good luck with your game CBL
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