Mobile Developer Economics 2012 publication @visionmobile
VisionMobile Developer Economics June 2012 www.DeveloperEconomics.com.
Key messages
- Developers are rapidly responding to the rising popularity of tablets: more than 50% of developers are now targeting tablets, with iOS developers most likely (74%) to do so.
- Developer Mindshare, i.e. the percentage of developers using each platform, irrespective of the developer's 'primary' platform, is at an all-time-high 76% for Android and 66% for iOS.
- Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” model explains how BlackBerry, BREW, and Bada (Samsung) have lost Mindshare by failing to compete in terms of user reach, which is by far, consistently the top platform selection criterion for developers. In 2012, developers used on average 2.7 platforms in parallel, vs 3.2 in 2011, representing a 15% YoY drop - a clear sign of consolidation.
- BlackBerry comes out on top in terms of average revenue followed by iOS [M1] with nearly $3,900 per app per month.
- One in three developers live below the app poverty line. Based on our research of 1,500+ developers we found that the average per-app revenue is in the range of $1,200-$3,900 depending on platform. An app has a 35% chance of generating $1 – $500, which means that one in three developers live below the “app poverty line”.
- North America tops app demand with 41% of developers indicating this is a top-3 download region, irrespective of their region of origin. Europe claims a 31% share, followed by Asia where 25% of developers see most of their apps being downloaded.