I don't think there's a conspiracy either. I'm only suggesting that Apple would rather your app cost $1.99 than $19.99, and that they have an incentive to make you believe you can make a lot of money even when the App Store is quickly becoming a race to the bottom.
I'd actually argue the complete opposite, that the race to the bottom has come and gone. You can't go any lower than $0.99 and free, and we hit those points a long time ago.
This next bit is anecdotal. There's so much shovelware and apps without polish on the app store, and many of them typically reflect this free and $0.99 price point. I'm starting to see trends of quality apps that originally priced at $0.99 to compete, changing their price points to $2.99 or $4.99 because compared to the competition, they're apps are of a premium and well-maintained quality.
