2012 – The Year in Apps

Nearly 100,000 new developers created applications this year for the App Store, which rakes in 4x more revenue than Google Play. With the number of App Store applications now topping 1 million, application discovery platform Appsfire has released a fascinating end of year infographic about the App Store.

2012 marked a turning point in The App Economy. Apple’s App Store will surpass $10 billion in cumulative revenue
and despite the market share gains by arch-rival open-source Android, Apple is still the undisputed revenue king. Nearly 100,000 new developers created applications this year for the App Store, which rakes in 4x more revenue than Google Play. With the number of App Store applications now topping 1 million, application discovery platform Appsfire has released a fascinating end of year infographic about the App Store. My interpretation: don’t get fooled by the market share headlines- Apple is still a more attractive platform for developers.


App Store revenue comparison_AppAnnie

Developers continue to prioritize iOS applications, with a new application published every 90 seconds. According to AppsFire, over 95,000 new developers created their first iOS application this year. The dominant business model (66%) is ‘freemium’
Apps created by Year

Games may be the dominant revenue category but hardly the majority of all applications.
apps by category

Very few (0.14%) applications make it to the Top 10. In fact, almost 90% of apps get no traction in the App Store
Of 1,021,964 apps

One variable that enhances the probability of success is high User Reviews. Only 1 in 5 User Reviews are “Excellent”, suggesting the importance of great game-play combined with effective marketing.
breakout of App Store ratings

You can see the infographic here. Appsfire was founded by Ouriel Ohayon in 2009 and is headquartered in Paris and Tel Aviv.

***

* Levi Shapiro  is a Professor in the Media Innovation Lab at IDC and Partner at TMT Strategic Advisors He works with media and technology companies from Tokyo to Tel Aviv and is a regular columnist at the Jerusalem Post.

Follow Levi
Managing Partner at JIMMI Fund
Levi Shapiro is the Managing Partner at the JIMMI Fund, a corporate venture investment fund, and concurrently Partner at TMT Strategic Advisors. He is also the organizer of Marketing & Ad:Tech Israel (www.adtechsummit.com), Israel's largest conference for digital advertising.

During a 20 year career inmedia and technology, including 7 years in Asia, Levi launched new business units(IBM), new products (Toyota) and new startups (TwoMinute Television, Snack Mobile, etc).

He teaches Entrepreneurship and Mobile Marketing as an Adjunct Professor at IDC Herzliya, serves as Mentor in Residence for The Hive accelerator and writes a bi-weekly column about digital media and technology in the Jerusalem Post called "Unleavened Media ".

Mr. Shapiro is a graduate of Tulane (BA), Cornell (Asian Studies) and MIT (MBA)
Levi Shapiro
Follow Levi
Total
0
Shares
Previous Article

Learning Should Be Your Top 2013 New Year's Resolution

Next Article
Steve Blank Free course

"Pay with a Tweet" and Other Growth Hacking Examples

Related Posts
Read More

Bitesize Monday: Recap of Israeli startup investments and product launches

June 2011 kicks off with the completion of HTIA, Israel's high tech association conference, where more than 90 (!) startups have exhibited. May has been a busy month for Israeli startups with great exposure in Techrunch disrupt in New York, funding rounds and debate about the future of the Israeli venture capital funds. Below are the headlines.
Total
0
Share