Ok, the reason "indie" devs aren't doing as well is if you aren't ballsy enough to charge enough for their apps for them to be profitable.
Consider the $50 game vs $0.99 game. To make the same money from a dollar game you need to sell 50x as many copies basically. As an indie dev with minimal budget, making money in a market where significant revenue means significant volume, it is going to take a lot of advertising to make a dent.
What the bigger companies have done is made games that are F2P with a much higher value via micro transactions. Their revenue per install might be something like $10 whereas the indie dev who doesn't want to charge as much revenue per install might be closer to $5. That means the people with the higher RPI can advertise more or spend more per install and still be profitable.
It's not unfair to indies so much as it is that indies aren't charging enough to make the numbers work. Also, if indies don't have the cash flow to float that $5 per user over 12 months that it takes to get it, they aren't going to be able to afford the $2.50 CPI.
The same economics play out in many, many businesses. Business is always a game of balancing production, operating, and sales costs against revenue. Whoever is best at that wins.
Consider the $50 game vs $0.99 game. To make the same money from a dollar game you need to sell 50x as many copies basically. As an indie dev with minimal budget, making money in a market where significant revenue means significant volume, it is going to take a lot of advertising to make a dent.
What the bigger companies have done is made games that are F2P with a much higher value via micro transactions. Their revenue per install might be something like $10 whereas the indie dev who doesn't want to charge as much revenue per install might be closer to $5. That means the people with the higher RPI can advertise more or spend more per install and still be profitable.
It's not unfair to indies so much as it is that indies aren't charging enough to make the numbers work. Also, if indies don't have the cash flow to float that $5 per user over 12 months that it takes to get it, they aren't going to be able to afford the $2.50 CPI.
The same economics play out in many, many businesses. Business is always a game of balancing production, operating, and sales costs against revenue. Whoever is best at that wins.
Maybe indies just aren't very good at business.