The Business of Apps

If you're reading this, it's probably just one of many app windows open on your smart device. We all have them. Phone apps, once a futuristic element, have now become a normal part of our everyday lives. The University of Alabama at Birmingham's Online Masters in Management Information Systems estimated that smartphone users spend more than 30 hours every month on over 24 apps.

But what is the business of apps and what are the job prospects? Let's take a closer look.

A Growing Market

For starters, we know the market for apps is huge. Businesses everywhere are developing their own apps to increase services and revenue. In the United States alone, a single household will spend 50 percent of their time on their smart devices.

The giant in app development, Apple, went from a mere 500 apps in 2008 to over 2 million apps on the iOS App Store at the beginning of 2017. And every time the company developed new hardware or software like the iPhone X, it was a chance for app developers to innovate and create what wasn't possible before.

Amazon Appstore, built for Android devices, went from a mere 3,800 apps to developers coming up with 50,000 to 100,000 apps a year. This is to cater to a growing market of billions of smartphone owners globally.

App Revenue in Numbers

This year alone, it was estimated that 268 billion downloads generated $77 billion worth of revenue for app developers. Here are some more impressive App Revenue Statistics:

• Global mobile app revenue forecast for 2020: $189 billion
• Global paid-for mobile app revenues in 2017: $29 billion
• Global in-app purchase revenues in 2017: $37 billion

Should You Go Into the App Business?

So now to the real question: Exactly how much can one app developer make off this market?

According to Statista, a Windows Phone app can make you a hefty $11,400 on average per month, and iOS apps have the potential to bring in $8,100. Android comes in a little less with an average of $4,900 in monthly revenue.

That said, it seems many app developers are biased to Android. About 75 percent of them said they were committed to making Android-based products to boost their revenue, and it may be completely worth it.

In-app purchases are another popular way for app developers and mobile companies to profit. Apart from the free services you may get when downloading a game, you'll have product catalog apps, in-app ads and in-app purchases. These add-ons seem cheap when a user just buys one at a time, but given the global number of users over the space of a year, every purchase amounts to huge total revenue.

Other business models include in-app advertising as a key to the model. With over half the planet's population on smartphones, the significance of profits will only increase.

While you can follow business trends, only time will tell the speed of which apps will develop in 2018, but the forecasts look bright. With businesses inventing their own apps, retail stores combining their in-store experience with virtual reality, and entrepreneurs coming up with more ideas for living "smart" lives based on emerging tech, it's one trend you don't want to miss out on.

If you plan to go into the business of apps, it helps to partner with professionals. Working with an experienced firm like Micro Tech Staffing Group can help further your chance for success. Visit www.mtsg.com to see how we can work together.