Month: April 2013

[Infographic] Developer Economics 2013: Dev tools are the foundation of the app economy

We’d like to present our latest infographic, based on the latest Developer Economics report – themed around developer tools. This infographic presents some of the key findings from the published report (which is available for download here).

  • 72% of developers use Android, 56% use iOS – HTML is the third most popular choice among mobile developers, 50% of whom use the HTML-based set of technologies as a deployment or development platform
  • 67% of developers are below the “app poverty line” of $500 per app per month –  BlackBerry and Windows Phone lagging behind in terms of monetisation, but leading platforms also have issues. 61% of iOS and 68% of Android developers are below the poverty line
  • 74% of developers use two or more platforms concurrently – Multi-platform offers much better monetisation potential, as developers who use more than one platform have higher revenues than those who just use one
  • Advertising is the most popular revenue model, used by 38% of developers – but subscriptions pay more
  •  Ad services are reaching mass adoption for developers – 34% are using at least one ad-service tool – 90% of developers use at least one third-party tool or service, with an average of 1.47 tools used concurrently

Want to be part of the next Developer Economics? Our online survey is still live (closes May 6 2013) – have your say and claim one of our great prizes!


(like our infographic? feel free to embed it – see codes below the post)
Developer Economics 2013 Infographic - Dev Tools: The foundations of the app economy

Connecting the next 5 billion users: Emerging markets and the need for new business models

[With so much excitement about smartphone growth, we often forget that the biggest opportunity still lies ahead, in connecting the next 5 billion smartphone users to Internet and apps. Guest author Tom Christian Gotschalksen talks about the idiosyncrasies of emerging markets, and the business model innovations that are needed to close the smartphone gap]

Business model innovations for connecting the next 5B users

Smartphone growth has taken the wireless market by storm, having exceeded the one billion mark back in October. The US and western European markets for smartphones are about to saturate, and with those also the related industries of apps, content and mobile Internet connectivity.

Now US carriers are looking for growth outside of US, and Internet heavyweights like Twitter, Google and Facebook are targeting emerging markets where the remaining five billion users are still to connect to apps and the Internet.

In Asia, Africa and Latin America there is a wave of new, aspiring digital natives. They are enabled by $50 smartphones, and the burgeoning second hand smartphone markets, creating a huge demand for Internet services, apps, games, and Internet connectivity.

But there are two important challenges in connecting the next 5 billion smartphone users to the Internet and apps. It’s the business models behind data and handset subsidies, which are in dire need of innovation. Continue reading Connecting the next 5 billion users: Emerging markets and the need for new business models

Which apps make more money?

[How do app developer revenues vary by country, or platform? Does the number of platforms make a difference to app revenues? Which models bring in the most revenues? We revisit our November analysis of app monetisation with more insights from our Developer Economics 2013 survey across 3,400+ developers – while launching our latest survey, which is available here]

New Developer Economics survey

Back in November, we looked at which apps make money based on research on how app revenues vary by platform, app category, country and more. In this article we update our analysis on app monetisation based on the latest research from Developer Economics 2013 across 3,400+ app developers, including analysis that did not make it into the report.

We ‘re also proud to launch our very latest Developer Economics survey, which reaches across thousands of app developers and provides the data for our famous state of the developer nation reports. Thanks to the sponsorship by BlackBerry, Mozilla, Intel and Telefonica it possible to provide these reports and additional insights, for free, to the entire mobile community.

Take part in the survey, spread the word and help us drill deeper into the app economy and what makes it tick. We have prizes aplenty for developers, with 7 devices up for grabs (one iPhone 5, two Samsung Galaxy SIII, two Nokia Lumia 920 devices and two BlackBerry Dev Alpha handsets) – plus an AR Drone 2.0, a Nest Learning Thermostat and a Nike Fuel Band for participants who also subscribe to our developer panel. Last, but definitely not least, our friends at Bugsense are giving away one month of free crash reporting to each and every participant.

[ab_testing prettylink=’blogDS13′] Continue reading Which apps make more money?