In the quarterly conference call to investors Getty Images CEO Jonathan Klein provided three reasons for why average prices were down about 10% for Q4 and the full year. These included:
1. A decline in the number of higher-priced uses relative to lower priced ones. This resulted in a lower average when total revenue is divided by the number of images licensed.
2. A significant increase in volumes of RM and RR images licensed for editorial usages. Since editorial uses are priced lower than commercial, advertising, brochure and other marketing collateral this results in a reduction of the average price.
3. A significant incremental volume of sales of the new $49 Web resolution product, which impacts the overall average price per image.
Klein says except for the $49 product, there were no general price reductions or pressures from customers to reduce prices.