EA boasts 'record-breaking quarter on iOS' thanks to 'well-timed' holiday promotion

EA COO John Schappert took to the airwaves during his company's Q3 earnings call to elaborate on the claim that Electronic Arts was the "#1 publisher in the Apple App Store for both iPhone and iPad and #1 on Microsoft Windows Phone 7." Some of you may remember EA's massive holiday-season sale in which it dropped the price on many of its apps to just a dollar; what you may not have known is that Apple freezes the charts every holiday season, and EA timed its price drops perfectly. Its apps shot up the listings and remained in the Top 25 Paid Apps while the App Store charts were frozen; meanwhile, the competition was unable to respond with lower prices and, even if it could, sales successes wouldn't be reflected on the charts.

"In December, a well-timed promotion of our iPhone and iPad games resulted in an unprecedented share and chart position for our titles," Schappert said. "The day after Christmas, the millions who were activating their new devices, EA held 14 of the top 25 paid apps for the iPhone and 15 of the top 25 paid apps for the iPad. Needless to say we had a record-breaking quarter on iOS." For EA, "each of these devices represents a new platform, a new revenue stream, and millions of new consumers." Schappert also called attention to the success seen in the Kindle Store, where EA's "Scrabble game outsold all books to become the #1 selling download in the Kindle Store from Christmas to New Year's." And of course, "Angry Birds was the #1 selling game for both iPhone and iPad in 2010" – while EA may not own the rights to the franchise itself, it does own the original iOS publisher Chillingo.

With its plan (crafty timing and all!) in place, perhaps the sting of losing Adam Sussman – EA's mobile veep, credited with pushing the publisher's iOS strategy – to Disney Interactive last week won't last long. Now how about a $0.99 sale on the excellent Dead Space?