Who’s Making All The Money In The App Store?
A question many have asked several times over and a report by Money.co.uk shows exactly where’s it’s going. Take a look below, Doodle Jump for example made over $1m after selling 3.5 m copies. Ethan Nicholas made $35k in one day from sales of the iShoot game. What’s also interesting from this report is how much it costs to produce an app in the first place, with the average being around $23,000 but gaming apps, which appear to be the most expensive can reach heights of $224,000, Angry Birds reportedly cost just over $200,000 to develop.
Read more fascinating facts regarding money making in the app store below…
Show Us The Money
How Much Will It Cost To Develop An App?
Cost Factoring
Time Factoring
Returns
This chart assumes you have spent $24,500 developing your app, for an app selling at $0.99 you’re going to need sales of 36,319 to break even. Obviously the higher the original app price the less you will have to sell but then you have to question whether the app would of cost more than $24,500 to develop initially.
Chances of Success
Nearly 700 apps are released every day, with over 77,000 publishers currently active, so the competition is stiff. Ignoring the top 10% of the most successful apps ever (to discount freak successes such as Angry Birds and give us a more realistic picture), a sad fact of reality is that nearly a quarter (23%) of apps sell less than 1,000 units from launch. A staggering 56% sell fewer than 10,000 and 90% sell under 100,000 – only an elite 10% sell between 127,000 and 3,000,000 units.
However, your chances of success are greatly improved if your app is featured in the ‘What’s Hot’ section of the Apple store, where you can expect up to 20 times the volume of sales for around a week and don’t forget we can help you with promotion here at theappwhisperer.com, of course.
Android
According to handset manufacturers and operators, Android handsets are outselling iPhones in Australia at 2.5:1. In the UK this ratio is around 2:1 and in the US it currently stands at 2.3:1.
Finally, while the Apple store is in the lead so far, according to a research report by Garner this dominance is likely to last only until 2014 and the Android will contribute to most of the mobile app market’s growth over the next few years.
Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter is a British photography journalist, editor, curator, and the founder of *TheAppWhisperer.com*, one of the world’s leading platforms dedicated to mobile photography and art. Since its launch in 2009, TheAppWhisperer has become an international hub for artists of all levels to discover, learn, exhibit, and engage with contemporary photographic practice.Built on principles of inclusivity, accessibility, and artistic excellence, Joanne has spent almost two decades championing mobile photography as a serious artistic medium. Through interviews, critical essays, exhibitions, competitions, and education, she has helped shape and document the evolution of mobile art on a global scale.Her work has taken her internationally, lecturing on photography and mobile art at institutions and events including the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, alongside appearances in the UK and Europe. She has served as a juror for international photography and mobile art awards across Portugal, Canada, the United States, South Korea, Italy, and the UK.Joanne is also the founder of *TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com*, one of the first online galleries dedicated exclusively to collectible mobile art, connecting artists with collectors across Europe, the United States, and Asia.Before founding TheAppWhisperer, Joanne worked extensively in print journalism and photographic publishing, including roles at a paparazzi photo agency and as deputy editor of a leading photography magazine. Her freelance journalism, criticism, and commentary have been published widely in both the UK and the US, with bylines in *The Times*, *The Sunday Times*, *The Guardian*, *Popular Photography*, *NikonPro*, *DPReview*, *Which?*, *Vogue Italia*, *LensCulture*, the *BBC*, and more recently, the *Financial Times*, where her published letters on photography continue to contribute to wider conversations around the medium.Alongside her editorial and curatorial work, Joanne’s own photographic practice has been exhibited internationally across the UK, Europe, South Korea, and the United States. Her work increasingly explores themes of grief, loss, death, memory, and the body.Her current research interests centre on grief, death, and poverty, with forthcoming postgraduate study leading towards doctoral research in these areas.Joanne is currently developing new long-form writing and photographic projects and is available for commissions, editorial projects, speaking engagements, and collaborations.Contact: joannetheappwhisperer@gmail.com)
One Comment
Neal
Ethan, you are true inspiration to all of us here…I am a non-tech person, just ordered an app to be made at http://www.quickappfactory.com , let see if I can replicate your success story…wish me luck!