In Part one of this two part series, we spoke with Dr. Abhinav Mathur (CEO), Siddtharth Jain (VP, Consumer Apps) and Prashant Singh (Sr.Manager, Alliances) at Spice Labs* about IP creation, data collection, the kind of applications they’re creating, monetization, advertising support for their kids specific applications. In Part 2, they speak about payment systems and app stores, conversion rates of in-app purchases, kid-specific devices, where their IP lies and why they're creating standard games like Hangman instead of new IP: MediaNama: How do you view free versus paid apps? Is there a propensity to pay? Prashant Singh: It's more of a generic problem. It's not there isn't an intent to pay. It's just that the payment friction is so much. Siddharth Jain: On the bigger app stores, it (the payment process) is being figured out more easily. Within India, it is not that well structured right now. In terms of distribution, we've done well, but in terms of payments, we're trying to leverage the groups strengths. MediaNama: Which is why I go back to the partnerships with toy manufactuers, because the payment is collected through them. Dr Abhinav Mathur: We want to create long term sustainable value. We do not have any immediate revenue targets, but we're looking at this space as creating an entry in an area which we identify as a gap, and a create our own brand. And I don't think the time is very far where the payment mechanisms will fall into place. That's a problem…
