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Samsung, EA team up for mobile apps initiative

The partnership is designed to increase the number of apps available in Samsung's application marketplace.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger

Samsung and Electronic Arts-owned mobile game publishing house Chilliingo have signed a deal aimed at increasing the number of apps delivered to Samsung's application marketplace.

The program is called 100% Indie and is a joint venture between Chillingo and Samsung. The initiative gets its name from the surprisingly attractive deal the companies are offering developers: 100 percent of the revenue earned from their applications in Samsung Apps for the first six months they're available. After that, developers will need to hand over 10 percent of the revenue. That share grows to 20 percent and finally 30 percent in subsequent years.

Reuters, which was first to report on the story, spoke with Chillingo co-founder Chris Byatte who touted the revenue-sharing agreement, calling it "unprecedented in our industry so far."

He's right. Most application stores, like Apple's App Store and Google's Play marketplace, require developers to hand over 30 percent of the revenue they generate as soon as they're made available.

Still, Samsung has its ulterior motives. The company's current application marketplace, Samsung Apps, is arguably the forgotten Android application marketplace, since it's not as big as its competitors and only works with Samsung products. However, Samsung's mobile sales are skyrocketing, which makes the company's desire to start capitalizing on app sales all the more important.

Samsung and Chillingo have launched a Web site allowing gamers or developers to sign up for more information on 100% Indie. According to that page, 100% Indie will kick off March 4.