“Piracy is a minor but still important problem for iPhone app developers, says analytics firm Pinch Media. The company notes that shortly after the launch of the App Store in 2008, it began receiving complaints that Pinch tallies of new users were exceeding official figures displayed by iTunes Connect. The discrepancy is now believed to be attributable to piracy, tracked by Pinch since May of 2009,” iPodNN reports.
“Of the iPhones and iPod touches tracked by Pinch’s systems, some 4 million are currently said to be jailbroken. Jailbreaking is a necessary step before using an unsanctioned app; only 38 percent of hacked devices — roughly 1.5 million — are known to have used a pirated app however, a comparative minority,” iPodNN reports. “Real piracy is believed to be somewhat higher, mainly due to pirate efforts at evading detection.”
iPodNN reports, “Regionally the largest ratio of pirated apps, over 37 percent, is said to be found in China. Almost 25 percent of Russian apps are pirated, and in Brazil the figure is approximately 22 percent. Japan, Great Britain and the US are said to exhibit the smallest piracy rates, no higher than 5 percent and closer to 3 percent in Japan.”
More info, including graphs, in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Can’t we just get along?
Let me shed some light here: I personally, directly talked to an iPhone 3G user (in China) who you can say is not starving, relatively OK in terms of salary, etc. but she didn’t jailbreak her iPhone. What she did, however, was refuse to buy any apps. All free only. I told her about a couple of great apps, even showing them to her on my phone and she said no. ON PRINCIPLE she will not pay for software.
Yes, you guys read that right. Now, don’t go trying to understand that “logic.” Personally, I think it’s more an education thing (they don’t understand what kinds of effort it takes to produce software because it is SO EASY to copy it; they think it’s just as easy to write a program, or at least not much harder). Something like that.
They are not really evil thieves. They’re just ignorant people (sort of the same as people who make fun of vegetarians; they are ignorant of the suffering).
@MacStorm
Like I said. Ignorant of the concepts of property, maybe. Try as you might, you will find it impossible, with most of them, to educate as to a western concept of property. At least, it will appear to be the case. In my experience, these persons understand perfectly well what you are saying, they just will not buy anything from you, but will sell you some.
> Reasons may be connected to bulk installations, and a higher likelihood of crashes. Few pirates are said to be interested in testing apps before buying them; while the conversion rate for legitimate trial apps is 7.4 percent, illegal apps generate a conversion of just 0.43 percent.
Besides the few there are the usual: users with no credit cards. As for the conversion rate, for apps that are typically bought on impulse and used for three days before being forgotten, that’s understandable. Regular updates of apps that do get used often should have a slightly higher conversion rate. The other point is pirates get the apps in quantity and use them even less.
“I was going to say ‘The bastards can’t afford a buck or two for an App?’ and then I realized the people in the richest country in the world, and Americans too, steal $1 tunes all the time.”
The US may be impressive on a GDP per capita basis, but with such a wild income gap, its looking more and more like a developing country.
Come on. Let’s not act like its 1950. Steal whatever what can.
Well, not me. I have a job.
” ON PRINCIPLE she will not pay for software.”
SB. ON LACK OF PRINCIPLES she will not pay for software.
Try as I might, I can’t find any of these apps.
Maybe I’m not putting enough time in looking.
Also take into account some countries may not have iTunes App store, and need to pirate the SW, to load on an iPhone un-availabe country
I jailbreak for legitimate purposes
If not for pirates, Apple would be more likely have a different stance on this issue.
It’s sad, really, that they have to ruin it for everyone.
Not to worry. The last time there was a trade imbalance with China a solution to the problem was forthcoming. The same solution may be at play.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars
http://whatreallyhappened.com/content/marines-bypass-taliban-opium-fields-afghanistan
By the way, did you ever wonder why Russia really attacked little ol’ Afghanistan in the first place?
Am I the only one who sees the privacy rights violation by Pinch Media being the bigger issue?
@pastrychef
Look at it this way, it’s like trying to chose between putting out the fire in your house or leaving the area to avoid the hurricane. Both are important but making a choice will really not fix your problem. So much around us is like that these days (in case you haven’t noticed). People have chosen that “health care” or “the war”, maybe “Iran”, any number of things. There is so much happening that so many disapprove of that not only do you not know where to start you freeze like the proverbial deer in the headlights. Most will then choose the problem that seems most immediate and get started, but in doing so it doesn’t mean that they feel the other problems are unimportant.
Hats off to every person who thumbs their nose at Apple’s corporate culture and laughs at Apple’s efforts to limit iPhone usefulness. These dear souls, God bless them, do what Apple can’t or won’t do for users worldwide.
@doc:
Why don’t you try beating your head against the wall. Maybe that will help clear your head.
@@alansky:
You are both heartless and stupid. That’s a really bad combinaton.
@alansky
That was very good attempt at humane behavior! Showing how much you care by defending the people loosing homes in this bad economy.
Too bad you ruined it by equating them with thieves and mocking someone you admit you believe to be mentally ill.
The really funny thing is that the more you write something here, the more obvious your psychopathic behavior becomes. On this thread alone, you have voiced your opinion:
“your Victorian morals are out of date”
in a manner that would indicate you believe your opinion to be the “right” opinion, then go on later to write to someone (ron) that;
“Your self-righteous assumption that your opinion is the “right” opinion is very offensive. Keep it to yourself.”
As I stated before, I must remember that the mighty alanski is just a psychopath that will do, or say, anything, anything at all, in order to obtain her goal, whatever that goal may be at any given time. The thing I must remember is that the mighty alansky is not capable of discerning right from wrong, incapable of genuine feelings of any type for anyone or anything, incapable of feeling guilt, remorse or empathy for their actions, incapable of identifying with or appreciating the level of physical, emotional or mental pain that they cause their victims.
oops!
Should be “losing”. Perhaps I will have to write that 110 times on the blackboard. Too bad we didn’t have services like those offered at blackboard.com, perhaps my education would have been better. I wonder how much they charge? Perhaps it is all for free? I mean, after all, most educators are always harping against “the corporate culture”, perhaps this corporation, blackboard, has found a way to produce a product, give it away, and not charge a fee? Maybe all the people working there are volunteers?
I know what it is, alansky just likes the idea of slave labor. If alansky can convince everyone that the product of someone else’s labor should be free, the laborer, in this case a software developer, is alansky’s slave, at least in the mind of alansky. And here alansky is, going on about “Victorian morals” being out of date, which makes complete sense. After all, in the Victorian era the British Navy freed many slaves and Victorian British influence had a lot to do with ending slavery in North America. alansky wants to turn back the clock and return to the days of slavery wheras people were not compensated for the fruits of their labor as they see fit!
@doc:
Dear Doc,
STFU, little worm.
@alansky
No.
@doc:
Is that “no” as in “No, I don’t understand English” or “No, I have to go to the bathroom”?
@alansky
No.
No as in I will not “STFU, little worm.” I will always point out a psychopath, as I did with you. I will always point out the people among the population that express the desire to enslave some other portion of the population, as you have done when you justify stealing the fruits of the labor of software developers.
If you don’t want to pay for a product or service, then don’t. The desire to not pay, but still use the product, doesn’t give you the right to use the product and enslave the developer. The really odd thing about your claim is that you are defending people that have enough money to own an expensive phone created by a “big dog” using that phone to steal a three dollar bit of software developed (by the little dog) to add functionality to this expensive phone, and then framing the whole thing as if you are for the little guy. What a crock o’ $h1t, you thieving, slave-mongering, psychopath.
@doc:
I believe this is what is referred to as “the pot calling the kettle black”. You really should start taking your meds again. Perhaps a nice, long vacation would help. Then again, lowering your blood pressure will do nothing to raise your intelligence. Too bad.
@alansky
More equivocation and bs from a thieving, slave-mongering, psychopath. Please, tell me, what is so right about someone that has enough money to buy an iPhone using an application on that phone and then refusing to pay the developer of the application the ten dollars the developer ask for in return? Please, tell me, what is it about that you believe to be OK?