There are lots of different types of businesses, and there's no one business model that works for all of them.
The great majority of the apps in the store now, not just the crappy ones, are hovering between 99 cents and 1.99. That's in line with the small, cheap toys hanging on an end-cap in the checkout lane in a department store.
The people who make those toys have a workable business model. Their mission is to provide their customers with an item, bought on sight and on impulse, that will make their kid happy for a few minutes. They do not try to establish a brand (though they'll often pay to borrow one from an entertainment company). They do not try to make a product that will last forever. They don't publish press releases, buy advertising, or try to get Consumer Reports to review their 99-cent toy.
Occasionally, out of the blue, one of these toys will become wildly popular for a short while, but there doesn't seem to be a way to predict it, or make it happen. The business plans of the small, cheap, toy companies don't depend on it.
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