Inside Social Apps 2010: A Recap
Written by Kevin on April 21st, 2010I had the opportunity to attend the Inside Social Apps 2010 conference in San Francisco yesterday. After being able to digest some of the presentations and thoughts from the panelists I have nailed down 3 key takeaways.
- VC’s “Bearish” on New Application EntrantsI understand that there are some definite leaders in this category (Zynga, Playfish, Playdom, etc.), but are there not still some niches to be filled? I see a lot of opportunities in the world of social applications with some specific focuses. In the same way that traditional games evolved to work on top of the social graph, there are other large markets that could go through the same transition.It is also worth noting that venture capitalists are looking for the homeruns. With the cash reserves and reach of the big players I understand that they have the means to stay on top. However, there are still a lot of room for independent developers and startups to move into this space and getting acquired by one of the market leaders or by a media company outside of social networking that wants to make a move into this space. For recent examples, see Yahoo’s acquisition of Citizen Sports and EA’s acquisition of Playfish.
- Consolidation and Emerging Brands
Sebastien de Halleux gave a very good presentation on this topic. Like gaming platforms of past we can look to see games and franchises consolidating, which has already begun, and brands will emerge. At the start of any new ecosystems it is a mad dash to grab a market position and there are entrants in the market ranging from venture backed companies to teenagers in their parent’s basements. Over time, applications consolidate under the market leaders and brands start to emerge. We have started to see this happen over the last year and it will continue going forward. - Mobile Social Apps Are For RealOne panelist predicted that the size of the mobile social application market could be 5x – 10x larger than the browser based market 5 years from now. This is mainly driven by much higher engagement on mobile and a willingness bythe consumer to pay. These factors are supported by what has already been happening in Asia.What really surprised me is the viral channels that are opening up on both the iPhone and Android market. One panelist even suggested that it is becoming more powerful as Apple is building tools that are enabling app developers to grow their apps while Facebook is tightening up the viral channels. Maybe we will start to see mobile applications driving users back to the browser one day.
Very interesting to learn what is happening in this area and excited to see what transpires in the next while!
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Thank you for this brief summary. It was a great conference. You hit the sweet spot for the big 3 takeaways, but I would also add that there was a underlying sense of disquiet throughout the day wrt Facebook privacy/viral management AND Apple OS4 Game Center opening up a viral path, both going in different directions. One gets more closed, the other opens up. They are the gorillas in this industry for sure and I was disappointed none of the speakers were from either camps, and none from Google either for that matter.
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Good point. It is a little scary how much power these camps have over the companies developing in this space. I think that we will continue to see them try to hedge against this by developing and promoting applications on their own sites, however, this is more difficult for mobile.nnThe other side effect is that if things get tighter on Facebook, the large incumbents have a significant advantage over new entrants as they can use cross-app promotions to grow new releases.
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I agree, and I also think that the mobile space will likely open up a bit more in the next couple of years. Did you hear the VC’s panel (my personal fav) where they said SMS charges to app developers are like 30% with US carriers, making gaming on mobile cost-prohibitive, but negligible in Europe, where there is more innovation? I really wish the mobile carriers in the US would lighten up/open up a bit more. If Apple moves onto Verizon as well, as they are probably trying to, competition between the Droid and iPhone (for one) on the same networks may help drive down fees for game developers. One can only hope to see more cross-platform apps.
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Thank you for this brief summary. It was a great conference. You hit the sweet spot for the big 3 takeaways, but I would also add that there was a underlying sense of disquiet throughout the day wrt Facebook privacy/viral management AND Apple OS4 Game Center opening up a viral path, both going in different directions. One gets more closed, the other opens up. They are the gorillas in this industry for sure and I was disappointed none of the speakers were from either camps, and none from Google either for that matter.
22
PM
Good point. It is a little scary how much power these camps have over the companies developing in this space. I think that we will continue to see them try to hedge against this by developing and promoting applications on their own sites, however, this is more difficult for mobile.
The other side effect is that if things get tighter on Facebook, the large incumbents have a significant advantage over new entrants as they can use cross-app promotions to grow new releases.
22
PM
I agree, and I also think that the mobile space will likely open up a bit more in the next couple of years. Did you hear the VC's panel (my personal fav) where they said SMS charges to app developers are like 30% with US carriers, making gaming on mobile cost-prohibitive, but negligible in Europe, where there is more innovation? I really wish the mobile carriers in the US would lighten up/open up a bit more. If Apple moves onto Verizon as well, as they are probably trying to, competition between the Droid and iPhone (for one) on the same networks may help drive down fees for game developers. One can only hope to see more cross-platform apps.
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If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.
22
PM
If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.
22
PM
If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.
22
PM
If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.
22
PM
If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.
22
PM
If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.
22
PM
If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.
22
PM
If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.
22
PM
If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.
22
PM
If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.
22
PM
If you think that it is bad in the US you should see how bad it is in Canada. It is not uncommon for carriers to take 50% from mobile charges. Changes in this area would definitely open up new opportunities to monetize and grow mobile apps.