A study on the business model for smartphone applications

智慧型手機的普及造就了應用程式（App）產業的蓬勃發展，然而在市場成長的同時，因為競爭激烈，許多App開發者面臨無法獲利的情況。為瞭解應用程式可運用之商業模式，本研究以134個在下載量及市場佔有率具有代表性的App為研究對象，除研究App在開發者、時間、類型、價格等分佈特性之外，並以Osterwalder et al.（2010）商業模式九宮格理論為架構，分析免費、付費、混合收費應用程式的異同點，並針對營收模式進行深入探討，獲得以下發現： 一、App具以下特徵：同一開發者有多項App上榜的情況，互相帶動下載量。種類別以遊戲類數量最多，其次為工具類及娛樂類。價格以免費App為主流，付費及混合收費App各占四分之一的比例。 二、在App的商業模式中，滿足顧客價值主張為關鍵，開發者應透過顧客區隔選擇適合通路並維繫良好顧客關係，且採用多種營收方式有助分散風險及創造利潤。 三、免費App營收模式較多元化，其中最常採用的是延伸服務、廣告收入、程式內購買（In-App Purchase）。付費App的營收模式較為單純，混合收費App具備較高知名度，因此較具推出周邊商品的潛力。 The popularity of smartphones has increased the growth of the App industry. While the market is growing rapidly, the competition is getting fierce. The objective of this study is to analyze business models of different kinds of App. With an approach of content analysis, this study collects 134 Apps to examine the features of App developers, timing of App on market, types of App, and pricing strategy of the various Apps. The study takes Osterwalder et al (2010) business model canvas as a framework to analyze three different pricing strategies-free, paid, mix. Major findings are: 1. The App developers own more than one App, so their Apps would affect each other in a positive way. The most popular App types are games, tools and entertainment. Free Apps are the mainstream pricing strategy while paid apps and mixed-pricing apps share one-quarter of the market each. 2. Value proposition is the key factor in the App business model. Developers need to select an appropriate customer segement and channel to establish and maintain the customer relationship. Adopting a variety of revenue models can increase profits. 3. The revenue model of Free App is the most diversified, the extented services, advertising, and in-App purchase are the most commonly applied. On the contrary, the revenue model of paid App is relatively simple. It is noteworthy that the mixed-pricing Apps seem to have higher visibility on the market and have more potential for developing extended services