So, confession time: How many services and apps out there do you really need? How many do you really use? I saw some number that the average number of downloaded apps for the iPhone is 10. That’s on what is supposedly the runaway success story for sales of apps and mobile content. In a way the mobile entertainment industry has made a pretty good job in convincing people they need something they hardly knew excisted. On top of that we charge for it in some shape or form.

So how do you set good pricepoints? Mike Speiser at Sutter Hill Ventures has an interesting post about pricing here. So would the expensive outlier help charging for our content? In most markets mobile content is very narrowly priced. Why have we made it that way? If you believe in studies about human behaviour and decisions it seems a poor pricing strategy to price all services/content in one category at the same price point.

Then again, many go free ad-funded hoping to sell a bit of virtual goods or messages on top. But in the current mobile advertising market that is dangerous. Or at least not the optimal pricing strategy for the industry as a whole.

Then again we have the problem with the multiple layers of costs for consumers to buy mobile content and services. The carrier charge for the delivery – the data traffic. Even if it is in a flat fee package the cost is there.

So will the 10 bucks premium ringtone help sell ringtones at higher prices than the average today? I guess you could work with scarcity as a way to push up price. Only sell limited numbers of pieces of content. Then again the content market has gone 9.99 per month for a bundle of content. We finally have the consumer’s attention, we have to handle that with care in this world of fickle consumers.

Communities and other mobile sites are increasingly going free or freemium. That might be the way forward to get the volumes. Still there should be room for some premium pricing in this setting as well. I am curious to hear of any examples of good pricing in our industry that you might have.