Samsung raises revenue incentives to boost its apps store

Samsung has tied up with Electronic Arts (EA) to draw more developers to the South Korean tech giant's fledgling apps store by raising the level of financial incentives.

In a report Wednesday, Reuters said EA's mobile games publishing division, Chillingo, will spearhead the program called "100 precent Indie". It is so named because Samsung will let independent developers keep 100 percent of their revenue for six months, which the newswire notes is "unusually strong" compared with the usual 30 percent cut offered by other platforms like Apple.

"So anyone who joins the program can benefit from 100 percent revenue, which is unprecedented in our industry so far," said Chillingo co-founder Chris Byatte, in the article.

After six months, developers give Samsung a 10 percent revenue cut and keep the rest, before it rises to 20 percent the following year, according to Reuters. The cut goes up to 30 percent from the third year--similar to Apple's and Google's respective platforms.

The program is aimed at all developers, including "the established ones, the heavy-hitters to the one-man bands," Byatte said.

The higher revenue-share cuts can be crucial for smaller startups, noted Reuters. Electronic Arts had bought Chillingo--responsible for hits like Angry Birds--in 2009 in a deal reportedly worth $20 million.

While Samsung has managed to gain ground against rival Apple with its smartphones and tablets in many markets, it is now gearing up to challenge Apple's lead in the apps space.