- Ok, it was not obvious to me from first reading of this. The content was copied and not the code. So there are many copycat versions of your app in the store.
- Copying is an issue everywhere (Zynga games, dating apps, camera apps, texting apps, twitter clones anyone?) Maybe not as blatant as your case. Your idea is easily copyable and I've learned elsewhere on HN that if the uniqueness of your idea is the only selling point of your product then you will not succeed against competitors. And you should expect competitors. Maybe complaining to Apple will help.
- Yeah, pirating is an issue everywhere (thepiratebay.org anyone?) and not just in China
- I'm just getting the impression that some areas of app development are not profitable. If you're trying to sell to consumers it could be a huge uphill battle on many fronts. Crowded app store, race to the bottom on pricing, copycat products (not just from the Chinese)...
[Edit]
- I recall reading a success story on HN about an app developer that created a better version of another app (iphone app of a talking elf or something) and made a profit on it. He was celebrated too. So that's the flip side of your situation. The developer was from Silicon Valley and not China.
The app was very successful, and I'm quite happy with my earnings from it, but that was not really the point of my comment. And I am also from California, not China, nor am I Chinese or even Asian.
My point was only that the Chinese specifically are much more prone to steal and/or copy software than any other group I know of. I know this firsthand from speaking openly with many Chinese, including my wife. And certainly my stats of app usage vs revenue in China have proven this conclusively to me. Nearly nobody buys it there, and yet China shows the most app usage!
In my opinion, this is an unfortunate side effect of the "growth at all costs" economic policy of China. Money becomes the only thing that matters -- IP, the environment, even the health of citizens is second-class. As China further develops, we will hopefully see attitudes change. I don't believe you see this level of theft/piracy in more mature economies like Singapore or Taiwan (not China, but similar in that they are ethnically majority Chinese).
DISCLAIMER: I did not intend to write such a long response, but got carried away. The intention is not to disparage China in any way, but to frame the issue as an economic incentives problem, rather than pointing fingers.
One issue I have heard from individuals much more familiar with the current Chinese culture than myself, is that the cultural revolution (communist legacy if you will), really disassociated the modern mainland culture from its roots and what you see if the "off-shoots", like Taiwan and Singapore.
The ethics, asporations, priorities, etc. that a person has, are all influenced by their surroundings and the culture that the family/environment holds. I saw this all too well in Russia in the 90s. The "anything for a buck" mentality is the core issue. In US/Western-derived cultures, as well as Singapore/Taiwan, you see boundaries put in place to restrain some this capitalistic drive. For example, in the old days, a man's word, was as good as a contract written on paper. You see this in many historic documents, such as British common law and it's influence on US legal system.
When the "anything for a buck" mentality sets in, your word is no longer that valuable. So naturally, you shift to other value-driving things, such as acquisition of monetary instruments and other "stuff". Means of said acquisition take second seat to acquisition itself. The apps in this case are the other "stuff" being acquired. How they are being acquired are irrelevant, so people doing the acquiring are taking the route of least resistance.
But this is not a China problem. Anyone remember the US financial crisis? Same basic problem - it was easy for consumers to consume beyond their means, and it made sales people richer. For a while, seemed like a win-win, until people needed to pay-up that is.
All of this is incentives problem. In US for example, you have much more incentive to "play nice" with the system, than going against it. For example, it's much more convenient for me to just buy the app. That "convenience" comes from a mix of ethical convictions and the fact that pirating takes time, which I am unwilling to invest, even IF I was ok with it, which I am not ok with stealing. From the economic view, the cost of stealing the app is much greater for me than someone else, so I make the rational choice of buying it and consuming for less.
This is great. It seems people have blinders on and are only outraged to see stealing and copying when it happens in China. It fits a stereotype. But when Zynga copies a game or somebody is downloading a torrent - not so much outrage, unless you're the MPAA or RIAA.
My point was only that the Chinese specifically are much more prone to steal and/or copy software than any other group I know of.
Maybe you should be talking to other groups. :-)
And certainly my stats of app usage vs revenue in China have proven this conclusively to me. Nearly nobody buys it there, and yet China shows the most app usage!
All it takes is one server with one pirated copy of your app for it to become popular. There may even be a app store for pirated apps out there making the pirating process even easier. This, combined with the viral nature of your app could account for these large numbers in China but it isn't damning proof that each Chinese user is prone to stealing. It's just so darn easy to do it. Just like how downloading torrents has gotten so easy that everybody is doing it.
Oh no, there are pirated versions in the US and everywhere else but my stats speak for themselves as far as I'm concerned. And then how does one explain the fact that the clone apps are almost exclusively made by Chinese?
I don't know what else to say. It's a cultural thing. I know this from data and I know this from more personal experience with Chinese people both in and out of China than a lot of people in my situation.
He's saying that the Chinese are prone to stealing/copying. I'm saying that stealing/copying is happening everywhere so you can't really pin this behaviour on one race/culture. I'm not saying that it's okay either. People will often use the "everybody's doing it" argument to justify something. Not me.
- Copying is an issue everywhere (Zynga games, dating apps, camera apps, texting apps, twitter clones anyone?) Maybe not as blatant as your case. Your idea is easily copyable and I've learned elsewhere on HN that if the uniqueness of your idea is the only selling point of your product then you will not succeed against competitors. And you should expect competitors. Maybe complaining to Apple will help.
- Yeah, pirating is an issue everywhere (thepiratebay.org anyone?) and not just in China
- I'm just getting the impression that some areas of app development are not profitable. If you're trying to sell to consumers it could be a huge uphill battle on many fronts. Crowded app store, race to the bottom on pricing, copycat products (not just from the Chinese)...
[Edit] - I recall reading a success story on HN about an app developer that created a better version of another app (iphone app of a talking elf or something) and made a profit on it. He was celebrated too. So that's the flip side of your situation. The developer was from Silicon Valley and not China.