Autodesk’s SketchBook for iPhone becomes a $14 million app

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Autodesk’s SketchBook Mobile is just a fad which ranks down below on the App Store earnings chart. I mean, how popular a pro-grade paint and drawing software costing two bucks a pop can become in this freemium economy? You will probably be surprised to learn it amassed a cool seven million paid downloads on the App Store thus far. This would mean revenues in the range of fourteen million dollars for the company, or about $9.8 million after Apple’s customary thirty percent cut. Bloomberg has the story:

Autodesk Inc. spent almost 30 years selling engineering and design software to accumulate 12 million customers. It took a single iPhone app – and less than two years – to attract 7 million more. Autodesk’s SketchBook application, which also works with the iPad and Android devices, has boosted the company’s user base and drawn new kinds of customers, Chief Executive Officer Carl Bass said today.

The San Rafael, California company benefited in ways more than just direct revenue from paid downloads…

Their profile and visibility heightened as a result of the program’s popularity among the iPhone crowd, the CEO told the publication. The aforementioned SketchBook Mobile app is a $2 download for the iPhone from the App Store. A Free version  for iPhone is also available. The Pro release for the iPad can also be found, priced at five bucks, in addition to a free of charge iPad download with fewer features.