Different ways of tool app: Changing the threshold of the present road

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Ge Xin

The popular tool-type app has many thresholds, many variables and diversified cash patterns.

Since 2012, mobile internet has entered the "cooling" channel. This "cooling", in fact, is not the player to exit the plate narrowing, but the overall changes in the industrial landscape. With the guidance and impetus of capital force, the advantageous resources begin to converge on the application of a clear commercial future, and the application of the business model cannot be sought in this window period, if there is not enough investment to continue, it will sadly exit.

Clearly, games, electrical business applications (including O2O applications), child applications, and the application of the monopolistic nature of the app have a clear commercial model. In addition to these four groups, there are a large number of popular tool applications. Roughly divided, these tools are generally classified as network and terminal tools, life information, Life Records, social and multimedia categories. They are clearly user-valued, but are often left behind by other applications on the commercial Road.

For tool apps that are not too late to get started, they are clearly likely to face the same dilemma as they do in the 2013--such as the time to profit is not yet measurable, but there are also different opportunities--such as the probability of a new competitor with the same positioning already very small. Tool class applications are at a crossroads.

However, is this the last kilometer of long-distance running, or the never-ending path of no return? By observing and analyzing these applications, you may be able to highlight some of the more essential things about mobile internet.

Threshold

The common situation facing app apps for tools is that the development threshold is relatively low and the competitor has two unfavorable situations. However, these applications can be retained to the present, has demonstrated its considerable user value.

In the case of Camera360, the app, which was born in June 2010, is one of the more photographed apps than Instagram, and has 30 million users in early 2012. The number of Camera360 users in a long period of time with the number of Instagram users. By the first half of 2012, Camera360 had been given a round of financing, which was rare in the Chinese developer team, which had a handful of second rounds of financing.

However, Instagram was bought last year by Facebook, giving a mixed hint of Camera360 and the same app. The joy is that Instagram's acquisition price proves its worth to a certain extent; The worry is that Instagram has given up the path of independent exploration of profits, a hint that their once-ambitious and still-impressive camera apps are a sign of a fading vision.

"Business value," said Zhang, a 3G portal president, in his view, a popular utility app that wants to implement a business model has to go through several hurdles: the first is to have a large number of users; the second is to have a good product experience; The third is to satisfy the user's personalized demand; the fourth way is to make the user stay for a long time.

According to this logic, it is clear that Camera360 has already crossed the first two barriers, the third is basic, but was stuck in front of the fourth road-camera applications do not have a long time to retain the user's genes.

In this regard, it seems that the 3G Portal's Go Desktop series is a step ahead of Camera360. Go Desktop app has been the 3G portal in the overseas Acclaim products, 2009 the Go desktop stripped out of the independent operation of the product group, and last December in Google Play on the online price of 15.99 U.S. dollars high-end 3D desktop App--next Launcher series. In just two weeks, Next launcher on the Google Play App Store personalized category "highest income" top position, sales revenue exceeded 1 million yuan. This should be said to be a milestone in the commercialization of Go desktop applications.

Zhang's explanation for why the Go desktop crosses the last hurdle is that desktop applications are relatively low-level applications that tend to attract users for long periods of time.

However, apps like next launcher, which can download fees directly, must be a handful, and the price is based on overseas markets. For most popular tool apps, it is not possible to go directly to the fourth threshold, and to explore the profitability of the flow-by-cash pattern is still a must-have action.

Way

Traffic is now the road, in the view of the PC Internet, looks beautiful but full of hardships. As we all know, mobile advertising has not kept pace with the entire industry after the mobile internet burst. The flow of this is supposed to be the Internet's most basic business model, even in the mobile internet failed.

So, from anticipation to disappointment, many developers are waiting for the PC to swing the gold-like advertisers, to get rid of the only hand-travel ads and the giant application of advertising. This inevitably requires that these utility apps, while guaranteeing the first three hurdles, await the belated advertisers.

In the Symbian era began to start the ink weather, is the earliest domestic entrepreneurship is also the most well-known weather category app. It now has 120 million users, day active users in tens. By the end of 2012, ink weather began to test water brand advertising. For example, it specifically sets the UV index, and gives the index of the beverage recommendations, and in the iOS 2.8 version by wearing a brand of clothing, Chen Yao, Ethan and other stars give users a hint of clothing.

Although some commercial income has been made, tech, founder of Ink Weather, said to business value, "to survive, in the product in the presence of a short board in terms of dwell time, must strengthen the user's stickiness through social function, and then the curve to achieve Zhang said long stay." For example, the ink weather is creating the photographer community through the "Scene photography" feature, and is docking with the micro-trust, adding a friend circle sharing function.

Since there is no profit, tech did not allow ink weather in the market to carry out a large amount of expenditure, but absorbed in January Hunan satellite TV "Day up" after the user surge experience, to adopt the road of branding promotion. It has just recently been in tune with Qinghai TV for a public welfare program.

and ink on the weather together with the Camera360 application. In fact, Camera360 's situation is very similar to the ink weather. Both of these measures are intended to extend the duration of the user's stay by strengthening the social function curve, and to reduce the cost of channel promotion through brand operation.

Unlike Camera360, ink weather, and go desktops, the famous bookkeeping app takes a different set of survival strategies. It's very early to remember the line, but it's also a long way from a business model problem with more than 50 million of users.

2012, the next network under the Second product-card cattle online, this credit card consumption real-time notification app, and the handy note formed a collocation relationship, and can integrate both sides of the data to bookkeeping. The founder of the Valley Wind "business value" introduced, because the accounting class application can not be social, so conveniently remember products can only choose enterprise-oriented to operate to increase stickiness. For example, be a referral channel for banking products or a joint credit card with a bank. This is the basic business model for the future of the series. Of course, then remember not to give up the improvement of the product experience, such as conveniently recorded in 9 in the tourism, decoration and marriage of the vertical billing form.

2011 with the notes of the marketing costs only 180,000 yuan, now because of the business model found, each month to promote the cost of this number exceeded.

It is worth mentioning that the mass-utility app, which has a large number of users, will never be zeroed in. The value of coupling with the Giants, as Instagram was bought, has become a guaranteed option. In fact, Camera360, the United States Mito, MO and other well-known popular tools app has been married to the Giants.

In short, because the threshold is low but imagine a large space, coupled with the flow of time to become a long time, so that the popular tool-type app is still in a future is not very clear exploration stage.

But because they have great user value, the developers have a more specific product positioning and methodology. However, their respective growth path is often very different.

Gu Feng thinks, now much like the PC Internet 2002, each type of Volkswagen app's final market saturation is 2~3 home, this is consistent. And even if the final takeover, it is a success.

MSN finally was QQ killed, who can survive vicious competition who is the winner. This is the Internet. The valley Wind said.