Not APP-beat

VisionMobile reveals exactly how difficult the app business is?nearly 69% of the apps flooding the app stores do not generate enough returns to stay in business. These fall below an app poverty line, set at $500 per app per month, meaning they can?t even pay standard app developer salaries, let alone sustain other overheads. On the other extreme, only 1.6% generate over $500,000 per app per month, with most above this threshold earning millions per month. The key factor behind the playing field getting so skewed is the sheer number of apps that are on tap at the two leading app stores, Android?s PlayStore and iOS?s AppStore?together, the two offer a million apps each. There could be a significant overlap, but the total still is too huge a number to apportion viable market share. Besides, app outreach is largely dependent on word of mouth?social media, recommendation engines, cliques, etc, push popularity of a particular app and competing ones lose market hold. Intense competition also means paid-download apps are losing out to free-download rivals. Thus, the threshold of what is to be paid for an app is being pushed lower and lower, cutting off an obvious route to monetisation.

IT research firm Gartner predicts 94.5% of the apps in 2017 will be free to download, such would be the pricing pressure. Given the backdrop, app developers looking to make money can take either of the two following paths. They can bank on product popularity and opt for the ?free-mium? route?that is, keep downloads free while charging for upgrades after a certain period of usage?in which dependence is likely to be established?or for other in-app features. Or, they can take the acquisition route, keep the app free and wait till it reaches a popularity level that would interest a Facebook/Google into acquiring it.