Pinch Media Talks ‘Piracy in the App Store’

Pinch Media, which offers application analytics for iPhone developers, has released a report (from 360iDev) talking about piracy in the App Store. According to the study, piracy for iPhone and iPod touch users is not an alternative to the “try before you buy” (trial versions) that Apple doesn’t support in the venue, but rather a method to just try an app and maybe even hold on to it.

Pinch Media begins by revealing that, “It’s been months since we introduced jailbroken detection to our library, and we’ve begun to get a better understanding of the jailbroken ecosystem, which has remained reasonably steady. To date, Pinch Analytics has received data from approximately 4.0 million jailbroken devices. About 38%, or around a million and a half of those, have used a pirated application. This estimate is low – application pirates take steps to avoid detection – but it’s worth pointing out that an individual who jailbreaks their phone is not necessarily an individual that steals applications.”

“Many pirates argue that their piracy is legitimate, because it allows them to ‘try before they buy’ and therefore ensure they’re receiving good value for money,” Pinch Media’s report reveals further on. “To test this, we first set a baseline for typical conversion rates by looking at several dozen ‘lite’ to paid application pairs. ‘Lite’ applications are relatively common in the App Store, and by giving the user a sample of the paid application experience also provide an opportunity to try before buying. The average ‘lite’ to paid conversion is approximately 7.4%. In other words, about 1 in 14 people who try a free ‘lite’ application go on to purchase the paid version.” However, Pinch Media also claims that, “About 1 in 233 installations of a pirated application eventually become a legitimate purchase.”

So, are pirates trying-before-they’re-buying, or are they just trying? Share your opinion in the comments.