Mobile app development is a way of life for thousands of independent developers, and also brings in massive revenues for all manner of companies, big and small. ContractIQ recently conducted a report on the state of app development, revealing some interesting facts and figures on the burgeoning industry.
ContractIQ report finds 1 in 4 turn apps into a real business
Surprisingly perhaps, only one in four app publishers turn development into a real business. This may be due to a number of factors, but certainly there are difficulties in marketing and monetising apps, in order to stand out in an increasingly crowded market.
Furthermore, ContractIQ found that there’s a huge difference between what mobile development companies charge in different parts of the world. Most expensive was the USA and Canada, where firms charge on average $150 an hour for an iOS app and $168 for Android apps. Windows development is also pricey in that region at $150 an hour, rising to a $225 high.
That’s a marked gulf between the cheapest app development market (Indonesia), where iOS app development brings in just $11 an hour versus $12 for Android.
ContractIQ found that 75% of app developers from over 500 app development agencies believe that demand for app development services will be robust in 2015. But more than 50% of their demand comes from hobbyists & idea stage entrepreneurs, the segments that are most susceptible to macroeconomic shocks. Even in a buoyant market, 40% of app developers say that only 1 in 4 customers publishing an app have become a viable business.
Price hikes for app development are however set to rise further in 2015, with most companies surveyed confident of a 5-10% rate hike, equally applicable to iOS and Android, but less so for Windows apps and HTML 5 web apps.
The report also found that just 10% of app publishers know what SDKs to use for their apps. Furthermore, in spite of a flourishing app economy, many app publishers don’t quite measure or monetize their apps well with only 25% have in-app monetization in their app development roadmap.
Unfortunately today, there appears to be no authoritative and credible way to plan a realistic budget for an building an app. ContractIQ’s annual price benchmarking report publishes useful price information for app development across all major markets, so decision-makers have a more holistic view of what to expect when budgeting for app development.
About ContractIQ’s report
Beginning 2014, every year, ContractIQ publishes the mobile industry’s only report on 3rd party app developers. The company tracks the mood of the industry for the year ahead, the trends they see on the ground, the price economics as it evolves and the tools they are currently in love with.
2015 is no different. The firm directly spoke to over 500 app development studios and 1000s of transactions that happen on ContractIQ’s own platform, to arrive at trends for 2015.
Mobile Industry Review would like to thank ContractIQ and in particular Ashwin Ramasamy for providing the information in this article. For more information about ContractIQ, please visit their website for more details.