How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
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How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
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Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
#2It's certainly possible to make a living on the App Store, but you can't depend on a megahit like Angry Birds or Tiny Wings.
My theory is that you'll need probably a dozen or so apps in the $1.99 - $4.99 range. The $0.99 point has too many psychological problems in terms of perceived value and competition to be worth it IMO. Ads also aren't a viable source of steady revenue for any non-Top 100 apps.
Each of my (paid) apps get downloaded around 10 times a day (and trust me, I have some pretty obscure apps [1]), so this theory is based on 10 apps * 10 downloads/day * $2.99 avg price * .7 Apple Tax = $210/day = $75k a year. That's not quite Google money, but it's all you, which (for me) makes up for the other $40k.
So there you have it: have a dozen moderate, long-tail successes to make good money on the App Store. And with what, 80 million? iOS devices in the wild, how hard is 10 downloads per day? (easier said then done, right? ;))
Other tips:
- MOST IMPORTANT: be well-designed. App Store buyers love that (take a look at Dylan's app, it's very pretty).
- If you can't design, then try stick with Apple's default look. It might not be unique, but it definitely won't be ugly.
- Have a reusable app design. It's so convenient to be able to write the core app once and just swap out data sources for each new app.
- Build apps fast and be agile; don't focus on one app for months on end without launching. MVP and get real-world feedback.
- Make it clear that your users can get in touch with you via email or Twitter. And then respond to them!
- Update often!
- Try Lite versions of your apps with In-App upgrades.
Full disclosure: this is what I'm trying to do :)
[1]: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brocabulary-new-and-improved/...
Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
#3Great article. One maybe naive question since I have no mobile app development experience: it seems that many apps experienced a spike in downloads when they were first launched; but the downloads tapered off in the long run. It is quite the opposite of websites where the traffic start to build up only after a period of time.
Could this have something to do with the lack of app search engines/recommendation engines to direct users to niche apps? Or is it due to the fact that mobile users only care about the latest (and presumably best) apps out there, hence the shorter life cycle of mobile apps? Thanks.
Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
#4It's certainly possible to make a living on the App Store, but you can't depend on a megahit like Angry Birds or Tiny Wings. My theory is that you'll need probably a dozen or so apps in the $1.99 - $4.99 range. The $0.99 point has too many psychological problems in terms of perceived value and competition to be worth it IMO. Ads also aren't a viable source of steady revenue for any non-Top 100 apps. Each of my (paid)…
You're app looks pretty funny.
It seems like the development cost/time is pretty low on that app as well. Good idea.
I was previously working on an early childhood education app. I didn't get very far until the numbers just didn't make sense. Perhaps I was being too ambitious but the velopment costs were extremely high, and I didn't think I could see it for more than $1.99. So I had to sell quite a few to even turn a profit. It's interesting though that you say even you're obscure apps sell 10 per day. During my research I found many that sold one or two per week. So you must be doing something right.
Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
#5This is really great information. Having seen similar charts many times in the past the question then seems to be, how does a developer for iOS or Android go about getting visibility for their apps? Clearly the visibility as a new app is pretty good, but it tails off fast and it doesn't seem that current methods are providing the visibility necessary for sustainment and/or growth. Outside of the obvious (a traditional marketing campaign, which is expensive) what kind of methods are available?
Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
#6Great article. One maybe naive question since I have no mobile app development experience: it seems that many apps experienced a spike in downloads when they were first launched; but the downloads tapered off in the long run. It is quite the opposite of websites where the traffic start to build up only after a period of time. Could this have something to do with the lack of app search engines/recommendation engines t…
Apps get some extra visibility when they are first released by being visible in the "New Releases" section.
There have been various attempts at improving app discovery, but I don't think there have been any outstanding successes yet.
Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
#7It's certainly possible to make a living on the App Store, but you can't depend on a megahit like Angry Birds or Tiny Wings. My theory is that you'll need probably a dozen or so apps in the $1.99 - $4.99 range. The $0.99 point has too many psychological problems in terms of perceived value and competition to be worth it IMO. Ads also aren't a viable source of steady revenue for any non-Top 100 apps. Each of my (paid)…
> and trust me, I have some pretty obscure apps
This is a very good point. Everyone gets fixated on being the top-whatever in the category but the key is to be in the top 5 for your niche category. For example, search Salsa. I have on good authority that one of those top 5 paid apps was selling in excess of several thousand copies a month.
Do your market research. Dominate your niche. Compete in that niche. The App Store is a closed marketplace - people are looking for their niche interest. Some niches are more profitable than others.
> But I can earn twice as much in the corporate world. (Software engineers are paid well.)
I don't know why he is doing this silly line of argument. This is mostly passive income. He creates a product and it sells itself (with updates irregularly). When you work for a company, you trade time for money. Time == Money in the corporate world. That is a linear relationship. The beauty of marketing and creating your own product is that the linear relationship can become geometric - you can change the equation - with hard work, luck, and delivering what customers want.
And stop thinking of apps as revenue generators and start thinking of them as lead generators, portfolio pieces. Not all businesses make money from product.
Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
#8It's certainly possible to make a living on the App Store, but you can't depend on a megahit like Angry Birds or Tiny Wings. My theory is that you'll need probably a dozen or so apps in the $1.99 - $4.99 range. The $0.99 point has too many psychological problems in terms of perceived value and competition to be worth it IMO. Ads also aren't a viable source of steady revenue for any non-Top 100 apps. Each of my (paid)…
> and trust me, I have some pretty obscure apps This is a very good point. Everyone gets fixated on being the top-whatever in the category but the key is to be in the top 5 for your niche category. For example, search Salsa. I have on good authority that one of those top 5 paid apps was selling in excess of several thousand copies a month. Do your market research. Dominate your niche. Compete in that niche. The App S…
> This is mostly passive income.
As a non-iOS developer I don't really know if an app that's 1 years old and has not been updated will continue to generate sales.
I make lots of comments on HN. Each of those is theoretically `passive income` for karma, but that doesn't mean I will keep getting karma for those comments...
Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
#9Great article. One maybe naive question since I have no mobile app development experience: it seems that many apps experienced a spike in downloads when they were first launched; but the downloads tapered off in the long run. It is quite the opposite of websites where the traffic start to build up only after a period of time. Could this have something to do with the lack of app search engines/recommendation engines t…
It's due to the nature of the market place: hits-based due to the charting nature of iTunes. So you typically get a huge boost in exposure when you launch (it's in the "new" chart as well as due to the PR that is drummed up externally) and as long as the resulting sales is enough to give a boost to it's ranking (in the "top X in category" chart, "top X in app store" charts, as well as being featured, which is really another chart), it keeps climbing. If downloads is sustainable at a certain level, the app settles at a particular ranking and earnings. Otherwise it fades and becomes forgotten. Some type of apps — games, novelty apps — are more susceptible to this.
Think of it like music or books. Apple is selling apps (to buyers) like it sells music.
Re: How much money can you make in the iOS App Store?
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
> and trust me, I have some pretty obscure apps This is a very good point. Everyone gets fixated on being the top-whatever in the category but the key is to be in the top 5 for your niche category. For example, search Salsa. I have on good authority that one of those top 5 paid apps was selling in excess of several thousand copies a month. Do your market research. Dominate your niche. Compete in that niche. The App S…
> This is mostly passive income. As a non-iOS developer I don't really know if an app that's 1 years old and has not been updated will continue to generate sales. I make lots of comments on HN. Each of those is theoretically `passive income` for karma, but that doesn't mean I will keep getting karma for those comments...
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