End of Flappy Bird sparks a new market for pre-loaded phones
FLAPPY Bird, the app sensation that was removed from iPhone and Android app stores this weekend, has prompted a boom in eBay sales of pre-loaded smartphones.
Sellers began charging premium prices for phones that already have the app loaded, with iPhone 5 phones advertised for around £800.
Bidding for a 16GB iPhone 5 with Flappy Bird installed reached $90,000 on the US site overnight on Sunday, but the listing was later removed.
Vietnam-based developer Nguyen Ha Dong pulled the plug on the app because he said the success of it was ruining his life.
But just hours after the addictive smartphone game was taken off app stores to block new downloads, second hand mobiles were for sale on eBay with titles like “iPhone comes with Rare Flappy Bird Installed”.
Meanwhile the iPhone app store top rankings were inundated with clones of the Flappy Bird game, such as Flappy Bee and Flappy Plane, as other app developers tried to cash in on the popularity that had earned the app more than $50,000 a day in advertising revenue.
Reaction to Dong’s announcement that he was removing the app ranged from disappointment to anger, with one Twitter user writing: “Dude I’ll kill you, don’t do this”.