The Overview of Mobile App Market: Why You Should Enter

When we first thought about entering the mobile app market with our product, we scratched our heads over the real volume of the market and its potential. Mobile is very much a hot trend but there was not enough classified information on:

–       who are the key market players;

The mobile app economy was worth $53 billion in 2012, and the forecast for 2016 is that it will grow to $143 billion. The figures vary slightly from researcher to researcher but the fact is that mobile is really big. Revenue is generated through in-app purchases, in-app ads, and big data accumulation. The most promising sections are social networks, utility, advertising, and productivity. The fastest growing markets are APAC and Latin America.

Above: Digi-Capital tracks huge mobile apps growth. Image Credit: Digi-Capital

The estimated number of mobile app developers is 2.3 million, which means that one developer out of eight is dealing with mobile apps. Apple, during its WorldWide Developer Conference, talked about 1.25 million apps in the App Store accounting for 50 billion downloads and $5 billion paid to developers last year. The average revenue for a developer is shown in the table below.

It is expected that app downloads will grow to 200 billion while mobile app revenues in 2017 will be as huge as $63.5 billion. The transaction value for global mobile payments is projected to grow from $235 billion in 2013 to $721.3 billion in 2017.  The main trigger behind rocketing mobile app usage is the growing sales of tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices.

The growth is evident in all app categories. It is clear to mobile researchers that mobile apps are turning into huge distribution channels themselves, rather than staying as independent instruments of marketing communication. The reach, the frequency, and the retention rate are fascinating for mobile apps. It is significant that mobile app usage dominates the overall time spent on daily media consumption at 82%.

The majority of available apps are B2C since B2B mobile apps are only now starting to enter the mobile app market. The potential for growth is huge. Although the forecasts and the statistics from each research company are slightly different, you can still conclude that the app market is really big.

In the US, 67% of people use smartphones to access the Internet every day, and the majority won’t leave home without their phone. As the PewResearch Internet Project indicates, about half of all cell phone users have mobile apps installed, and two-thirds are regular mobile app users. Most users of mobile apps are between 25 and 30 years old, are married, live in suburban areas, and have had at least four years of college education. Mobile app users are generally younger, more educated and have higher income than other cell phone holders. Businesses that integrate mobile into their strategy can engage an entirely new type of customer – an instantly connected one. Smartphone users generally prefer to multi-task and be on-the-go.

Users who you can reach through mobile apps are more engaged and ready to communicate with your business as long as the channel of communication is accessible and they can find all the product info needed.

Mobile apps work to increase customer loyalty (especially in retail ). Loyal customers tend to download free branded mobile apps more often and spend twice as much time on them than on a mobile website.

Once you’ve decided to construct a mobile app, you ought to know who to turn to for assistance. The market players in mobile app development fall into six categories: management consultancies, mobile specialists, product development specialists, digital agencies, telcos, and systems integrators. According to Forrester Mobile Research. the market for mobile engagement providers will grow to $32.4 billion by 2018. The types of product that they offer are mostly app builders of varying designs and functionality. The services they provide belong to three categories: mobile engagement services, mobile app and device management, and mobile app development services.

1. Mobile engagement services include demographic research, mobile strategy, user experience design, analytics, business process re-engineering, upgrades to back-end services and system consolidation.
2. Mobile app and device management often comes with per-device fees.
3. Mobile app development services include developing and maintaining native or hybrid apps for tablets and smartphones along with mobile websites and responsive design versions. Existing APIs are used to connect to back-end systems. These services do not include user experience design.

Launching an app can be difficult for medium and small businesses but the main problem is maintenance. According to research from Distimo. only 2% to 3% of the top publishers in Apple’s App Store and the Android Google Play store are newcomers, which indicates the toughness of the challenge to build something exquisite and useful for users. The trick is that building an app and including all the necessary elements into it is only a small part of the job, as you also need to think about registering a developer’s account at Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play Market, submitting the app, hosting it, regular notifications, engagement, maintenance, minor bug fixes, adapting it to new operating systems, etc.

A survey among 100 iOS, Android and HTML5 developers demonstrates that the average time for building version one of a native mobile app takes 18 weeks. The work includes back-end tasks (data storage, user management, server-side logic, data integration, push, and versioning) and front-end tasks (caching, synchronization, wireframing, UI design, UI development and UI polish).

When small and medium businesses, freelancers and bloggers decide to build a native mobile app, they will most likely find app building services on Google offering a bunch of functions. Subscription plans vary from $10 to $1000 and no coding skills are required. Meanwhile, custom apps requiring months of development cost from $100,000 up to $2 million depending on the complexity of the app. The pricing strategy is quite complicated because, for instance, the relative cheapness of DIY services is driven by poor design, low technical quality, and maintenance issues with content updates, version updates, etc. which can cost a lot.

We saw a market niche for ourselves between custom development (with its huge budgets and time frames) and simple inconspicuous online builders. This is how our motto “Ready Mobile Apps” was born – you don’t need to mess about with settings and you can just enjoy beautifully framed content. Moreover, you can distribute the content using your brand without spending a good deal of money on designers and developers.

Huge corporations can afford to generate their own native apps with zillions of integrated elements, making the customer experience as flawless as possible. In the meantime, for small and medium businesses, and even freelancers connecting to a customer through content, a branded native mobile app might be a better choice.

Let us know what you think in the comments below. Sign up for Ready Mobile Apps today – 14 days of free trial !

The 5 Biggest Mistakes in Mobile App Marketing

Mobile has changed the landscape of consumerism in a few short years by becoming our favorite tool for reading the news, watching television, communicating, socializing, shopping, making decisions, navigating…for just about everything!

As a marketer, mobile is a very powerful place for you to connect with your audience.

However, with great power comes great responsibility. Since mobile is such a personal medium, it is the easiest place for marketers to make massive mistakes that will turn off a customer forever.

We’re here to help you avoid making those mistakes. Here’s what you should be looking out for and what you can learn from those who have come before you:

Too many mobile experiences are just smaller versions of the brand’s desktop, enabling the exact same functionality, and trying to shrink it down to the small screen. Yet, a mobile app is an entirely different vehicle for experiences, and it should be treated differently for the new opportunities it provides.

A mobile customer will quickly discard overwhelming designs that mimic desktop content page-for-page. It’s fairly common to assume that a customer will input as much information on the mobile device as they do on the desktop. But input is much more time consuming on mobile devices, and it’s important to design with that in mind. The reality is that the small screen can be a blessing, as it enables you to focus on what is truly important .

Beyond design, mobile provides uniquely powerful abilities. For example, mobile apps have the benefit of being able to know where we are all the time. It makes our lives easier when we can tap a button, be located on a map, and then be shown all gas stations, Vietnamese restaurants, Macy’s stores, or bus stops near us.

Simplify your customers’ lives by focusing their attention on the few things that truly matter. If you already have a desktop site or app, pare down the functionality to a few core tasks. Then learn from your customers about what they really miss from your desktop version. You might be surprised to find that they don’t notice anything is missing.

“The font game” mobile app is a great example of design that is mobile optimized. With its large buttons, visual appeal, and emphasis on just the core features on the main page, this app is truly fit for mobile.

Optimized mobile app design in “the font game”

At this point, we’ve all heard the amazing download numbers coming out of the app stores. But that aggregate number doesn’t mean your app will garner huge downloads just by publishing it in the app store. Companies with existing web presences and audiences can take advantage of their assets to properly market and promote a new app.

Even though your website landing page shouldn’t be an overwhelming advertisement for your mobile app, when your customers visit your website, they should know that there’s an optimized mobile app available as well.

Nordstrom has a mobile app, but you wouldn’t know it without reading through every single link at the bottom of their page.

Don’t make it hard to find your mobile app

Sephora, on the other hand, does a better job of promoting its iOS app at the bottom of every page with the recognizable app store logo link to its download page.

Clear call-to-action to download the app

You also should spend time getting familiar with the most common mobile app discovery paths. App stores are the primary method of app discovery, but still, too many app publishers completely neglect the importance of their app’s title, keywords, and descriptions .

In addition, it is important to encourage happy customers to leave reviews. Too often, only unhappy customers leave negative reviews while satisfied ones remain silent. Once someone finds your app in an app store, they look to reviews to see whether the app is worth downloading. If you’re not focused on getting your happy customers to leave reviews. you’re losing thousands of potential customers.

If you have an existing web presence, take the time to tune it for your mobile visitors. Use all of your channels for communication to let your customers know about your app. Bring existing assets like your Twitter account, email list, or Facebook page to your app’s marketing activities.

In addition, you should be proactively setting your app’s title, keywords, descriptions, and screenshots. There are some great tools for improving your App Store Optimization (ASO) that will help customers find your app in the app stores. Check out MobileDevHQ. SearchMan. or Appnique .

Finally, make sure your ratings and reviews reflect a positive image of your app. In order to market your app successfully, you need to have a proactive approach for getting happy customers to leave positive reviews in app stores. Consider in-app prompts that remind customers to leave reviews after completing a significant action like making a purchase, using a coupon, or accomplishing an achievement.

PaidPunch’s mobile app guiding happy customers to leave a review

With over 750,000 apps in both the iTunes App Store and Google Play, the bar for an app is extremely high.

Publishing an app that is, essentially, a launcher for a mobile website communicates to your customers that you don’t really understand mobile. It will quickly lead them to search for an alternative app that is native.

This is because native apps are built for a world full of spotty internet connections and limited time. Sure, it’s great when you have 5 bars of LTE connection, but apps need to work in the subway, on the plane, and even in dead spots.

Building a mobile app can be a daunting task, and building a native app for multiple platforms can be overwhelming. It’s understandable that many companies attempt to build an app that is purely web-based in order to simplify their lives. This is the wrong approach, though. Consumers aren’t concerned with the complexity of your development process; they’re purely focused on their own experience.

Instead of attempting to support every platform out of the gate, focus on one platform. Use it as an opportunity to learn about what works and resonates with your customer base. If you absolutely must release on multiple platforms, employ a cross-platform programming language that assists in the delivery of native apps for multiple environments. Options in this space include Corona Labs, Appcelerator, PhoneGap, Xamarin, and Icenium.

The number one problem in the mobile app ecosystem is retention. For most apps, 90% of the people who download your app are gone within 6 months. 90%!

An investment in a mobile app for your business requires an understanding of why people would return to use your app on a regular basis. Have you built a game that is easy to finish? Is your app’s utility more novelty-driven than recurring in nature? Have you assumed that you’d be placed on someone’s home screen after just one use? If so, you’re likely to fall into the large bucket of apps that struggle to retain customers for longer than a few days.

People return to your app because it has ongoing value for them. not because you’d like them to. It’s very important to accept this and focus on designing your app from the outset to answer the question: why would anyone use this more than 5 times?

Fortunately there is a lot you can do to address the retention issues. There are two key strategies you can employ:

1. Design around a consistent and recurring use case. This requires that you truly understand what customers want from your mobile app, why they use it, how they use it, and when they use it. If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you need to invest in research with your customer base, either through focus groups or within the app using real-time in-app surveys.
2. Create engagement mechanisms for your app to re-connect with consumers and remind them of your app’s presence on their device. You can generate reasons to engage, like exclusive content or benefits for your customers (discounts, rewards, content packs, etc.) available only through the mobile app.

Exclusive mobile coupons through Walgreen’s mobile app

You also can use frequent updates to remind customers about your app and demonstrate that you’re continuing to improve it. Be sure to include the changes in the update description to highlight what customers can look forward to and encourage them to open the app.

Updates serve as reminders that catch your customers’ attention

Mobile’s true power comes from its personal nature. When your app is installed on a consumer’s device, they have you in their pocket all day every day. This provides a perfect opportunity to listen to your customers and engage with them in a personal manner. You can delight them with your acknowledgement of their worth to you as a customer.

Too many companies are investing in mobile apps and then making it impossible to take the last step of connecting to the people who download the app. By creating two-way communication channels within your app, you can make each and every consumer feel special, at scale.

Customers will have issues, questions, and suggestions when using your mobile app. The reality is that consumers today have higher expectations than ever before when it comes to customer service and responsiveness. We all expect companies to be listening to us and serving our needs as a course of business. In the mobile app space, the main channels for communication are the ratings and reviews tabs in app stores. For the consumer, this is terribly frustrating as the app stores leave no room for dialogue, and remarks or feedback left cannot be given a response. This can make a company look like it isn’t listening or trying to address the customer’s commentary.

Consider building in-app communication tools to make it easy to submit feedback inside the app. Listen to customers before they’ve gotten frustrated enough to visit the app store. If you don’t have the time or resources to build these tools internally, look for services that provide in-app feedback or intelligent ratings prompts in order to solve your problems. You’re likely to find that the ROI on these services is significant because of the way in which it helps you grow retention, ratings, reviews, and research – the four R’s of the app business.

Urbanspoon’s in-app feedback

It is well worth a marketer’s time to make customers feel valued and create a way for communication to happen between the brand and mobile customer in-app. Mobile apps that engage their customers, listen to them, develop relationships, and iterate find themselves with a loyal audience of fans who tell others about the app and spend time giving feedback to make it better.

Mobile apps are an incredibly powerful way to connect with your customers and drive your entire company’s marketing efforts forward. In order to be successful, it’s important to spend time upfront planning your marketing efforts so that you can take advantage of the unique qualities of mobile devices. By avoiding these 5 common mistakes, you can improve your app’s chances of success and make a powerful marketing tool for your company.

About the Author: Robi Ganguly is the CEO of Apptentive. the easiest way for every company with an app to talk with their customers. When he’s not at the office, you can find him running, reading, cooking, spending time with friends, or hanging out on Twitter (@rganguly ).

Best Apps Market v4

Best Apps Market это альтернатива используемому по умолчанию списку Best Apps на Google Play. Здесь вы можете посмотреть рекомендуемые лучшие игры и утилиты для Android, которые были выбраны специально, чтобы отсеять программы, преимущественно являющиеся отбросами, которые вам будут выданы в результатах обычного поиска.

Best Apps Market содержит множество списков специально созданных на основе отзывов пользователей, в них вы можете найти видеоигру в наиболее любимом вами жанре, а также приложения необходимые вам для решения любой конкретной задачи.

Вот некоторые из наиболее превосходных функций Best Apps Market: фильтр, который скрывает приложения не совместимые с вашим устройством Android, возможность применять собственные фильтры к результатам поиска, комментарии от членов сообщества, их рекомендации и претензии.

Best Apps Market это наиболее полнофункциональная утилита которая, помимо помощи в поиске лучших приложений, дает вам возможность управлять ими через необыкновенно удобный интерфейс.

App market - Олег Хантиль

Оператор регулярно обновляет каталог игр. Самые хитовые новинки появляются по четвергам. В каталоге присутствуют разные тематики приложений: от бизнеса до развлечений.

Как пользоваться возможностями магазина и услуги:

1. Необходимо подключить услугу app market. Отправляете пустое SMS на короткий номер 2024.
2. Дождаться прихода ответного SMS c подтверждением активации услуги. Кроме этого, в принятом сообщении будет ссылка для скачивания приложений или игр. Она (ссылка) играет ключевую роль.
3. Вы сможете использовать мобильный интернет МТС или wifi соединение для доступа к магазину, но обязательное условие услуги App market- переход в магазин по ссылке, полученной в SMS ( смотрите пункт 2)
4. После входа на http://apps.mts.com.ua Вам следует ознакомиться с условиями подписки и подтвердить свое согласие
5. Бесплатный 7-и дневный период предоставляется абонентам МТС только один раз. Если Вы уже ранее подключались к услуге App market, то второй и последующий раз оплата идет с первого дня.
6. Оплатив услугу Apple market, Вы можете скачивать без ограничений приложения с магазина.

1. МТС Украина предлагает 7 -дневный бесплатный пробный период.
2. За каждые последующие 7 дней оплачиваете 4 грн. Предусмотрено два типа снятия денег с вашего счета: стандартный, когда оплачиваете услугу App market за 7 дней. Если у Вас денег не достаточно для пользования услугой в течении недели, то МТС снимет 0,57 грн за один день.
3. Отправка SMS на номер МТС 2024 –не тарифицируется ( 0 грн.)
4. При пребывании абонента в Крыму или международном роуминге, SMS на номер 2024 тарифицируется: 0,50 грн для Крыма, и 4 грн для роуминга.

Стоимость везде указана с НДС, но без учета 7,5% отчислений в пенсионный фонд

Как отключить услугу:

Отправляете c вашего телефона в тексте сообщения на короткий номер 2024 слова Stop или Стоп

В целом App market от МТС представляет некое подобие магазина Google Play или Apple Store. но с меньшими возможностями. Для удержания и привлечения активных пользователей- услуга нужная.

Ограничения при пользовании услуги:

1. Бесплатный трафик не учитывается для точек доступа wap, wap.umc.ua,wap.jeans.ua
2. бесплатный трафик- только для припейдной формы оплаты
3. Вы заплатите за трафик, который генерируют приложения или игры

Best Apps Market - an app that recommends new Android apps - games based on your tastes!

• Imports your apps and makes recommendations based on your preferences!
• Lots of simple-to-explore content!
• Access to user reviews!
• Handy widgets
• Easy to use interface!

Best Apps Market is a cool little app for up-to-date recommendations. As Android users, we’re a feverish bunch when it comes to downloading new apps and there’s often a rush when a new app is released- just check out the download statistics when hyped apps like Instagram or Temple Run are released. Navigating the 500,000+ apps in the Google Play Store is made easier by recommendation apps such as AppBrain App Market. AppAware and more recently Playboard (who will, in my experience anyway, chase you on Twitter to create lists on their service).

Best Apps Market, however, is a very comprehensive service that offers reviews, recommendations based on your current download history, detailed search filters and even the ability to subscribe to streams of new app types. This essentially means that if you’re a sucker for To-Do apps, you can monitor new releases easily from the app. All this is delivered in a neat and relaxed user interface which is incredibly easy to use and a breeze to navigate.

Coverage of each app includes; Google Play screenshots, a snappy micro-review, description, community pros and cons plus related apps and games. These are all easy to tab through and, while there’s not much in the way of depth, the info is bite-size and easy to consume.

In my experience with the app, recommendations are accurate, insightful and, with user’s own recommendations and reviews, it’s a great environment to get brief-yet-honest appraisals of games and apps. It also provides three different 4×1 homescreen widgets. These include one which presents the latest apps you have downloaded, apps of the day and your favourite apps. The widgets are a nice addition, look quite neat and help your app discovery further.

If you’re perpetually on the hunt for new apps, this is a brilliant little app that is jam packed with recommendations and mini reviews. The inclusion of widgets make using the app intuitive and fun.

It probably couldn’t be easier. There’s lots of content in the app, and plenty of functionality- but it’s worth exploring, I’m sure you’ll find something that interests you in no time at all.

As with many apps, this really depends on the user. It is updated daily with new content, so it’s certainly something you can use on a regular basis.

Although I’m not a fan off the green hue, the design and execution of the app is spot on. It’s fast, responsive and all the information you need is just there.

( 4.8 out of 5)

Should you Download Best Apps Market. If you’re as hungry for new apps as the next Android user, this is well worth checking out. It presents and recommends in a concise way, giving you a feel for apps and games almost immediately. There isn’t a huge amount of depth or analysis in the way the application considers each app or game, but it’s snappy reviews and easy-to-consume content make it both convenient and slick.

App market Archives

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Vincent Chan

Did you know that Japan has the world’s most lucrative app markets? This isn’t exactly a surprise, since Japan is constantly one step ahead in the world of technology. Recent reports from App Annie and Distimo  has shown that Japan has led the world both in app spending and in profit margins on mobile games since 2013. Naturally, many app developers are keeping an eye on the Japanese market, but Japan is not an easy place for foreign players to establish a new product.

Fortunately, we can help. Here are seven key facts you need to know if you’re wondering on how to market an app in the Japanese app market.

The first lesson of bringing an app to Japan is that it can be very, very lucrative to do, especially since 2013, when smartphones in the country increased drastically from 28% to 42%. Plus, Japanese mobile users are accustomed to paying for digital content, so it was no surprise when total spending on smartphone apps skyrocketed.

Check out this chart (below) from App Annie. which shows how Japan produced almost $350 million of combined monthly app revenue across iOS and Google Play, surpassing revenue in the United States and pushing Japan to the top of the world app market.

It’s not enough just to look at the revenue generated by a particular market. After all, for a business; what really matters is the profit margin. And in terms of profit, too, Japan seems to be topping the charts—at least according to a recent report from Distimo. With the world’s highest revenue per download and the world’s third-lowest cost per download, each app in the Japanese market will obtain on average, a profit margin of $4.48.

For foreign developers, those kinds of numbers are tempting. They’re also hard to achieve. In order to compete in the Japanese market, the main key is to analyze how domestic developers are managing costs and boosting demand for paid apps.

With high revenue and high profit margins, Japan may seem like a developer’s dream. Still, it can be a difficult market to enter because just five major domestic players share a full two-thirds of the country’s app revenue. Equipped with strong local knowledge, extensive connections and a deep foothold in the app market, these major players make for some tough competitors. In order to thrive in Japan, it’s essential for app developers to consult with people, who know the country well. Japanese app developers, marketers, and localization experts can help you tailor your app to succeed in a competitive market.

Good news for Android app developers: while iOS app revenue is still ahead of Google Play, the gap between the two platforms has closed quite a bit in Japan. However, with the largest mobile operator in Japan, DoCoMo. now offering iPhones, Apple’s smartphone market share reached 76% last year. Apple sales figures tripled Samsung in October 2013. For now, at least, iOS seems likely to have an edge on Google Play, but it’s a tough competition and maybe more so than any other markets.

Are you trying to figure out what kind of app will be a hit in the Japanese market? One word: games. Puzzle & Dragons, a huge gaming hit in Japan, helped GungHo Online become the most profitable publisher of 2013 in Japan. Last year alone, the company reportedly earned $691 million through the iOS App Store and $820 million through the Google Play Store—altogether, more than $1 billion in revenue. GungHo’s success makes sense, because the company focuses on building games. And looking at the top 50 paid apps in Japan for both Google Play & iOS, over half of them belong to the gaming genre.

If you want to compete with the major domestic players in Japan, localization is essential. In particular, to develop a successful app for Japan, translation into Japanese is a must. Of the top 50 paid apps in Japan, 80% have developed a Japanese version to suit users better. Plague Inc. and Infinity Blade III are two examples of gaming apps that originated in the West and eventually came to top the charts—but only after finding localization experts to help translate and customize their app for the Japanese market.

For western developers, localizing an app for East Asia involves far more than overcoming the language barrier. After all, the cultural gap isn’t just about words. Visual items in particular can work well in one market but fall flat, or even cause offense, somewhere else. David Ng, Chief Executive of the Singapore-based gaming company Gumi Asia Pte Ltd, shared his experiences in an interview with Global Post :

“In Puzzle Trooper. a game originally intended for western players, a character resembling the wrestler Hulk Hogan got some manga makeovers. When we started doing testing in Asia, we realized that they don’t really like the western art that much, then we tested with some more Japanese-looking art and the response was really good.”

Before settling on the details of your localization effort, it’s helpful to conduct focus-group research with Japanese app users, or to partner with a local design house. That way, you can figure out what parts of your app may or may not appeal to customers in this lucrative—and growing—market.

Do you have any experiences that you can share about localizing an app into the Japanese market? Anything you want to know about translating content into the Japanese language? Whether your ideas are technical or simple, feel free to let us know in the comment section. We love to hear from you!

App Marketing Tools For Developers

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Over the last few years, a lot of tools and services have been created for app developers.

Here is a list of a lot of them (inspired by Steve Blank’s Startup Tools ), that we will update as we learn about new ones. Don’t hesitate to contact us at contact[at]apptamin.com to help us make that list better!

POP (Prototyping on paper) – iPhone App Prototyping Made Easy

Mockabilly – App for creating mockups on iPhone

Interface – Advanced mockup and prototyping for iOS

Blueprint – Mockup iPad app for iPhone and iPad applications

Proptotypes – Turn static designs intro a tappable iPhone prototype

FieldTest – Create mobile interactive prototypes

Keynotopia – Use PowePoint/Keynote to Prototype Like a Pro

Justinmind – Rich interactive wireframes to define web and mobile applications

Fluid UI – Mobile Prototypes for iOS, Android and Windows Apps

UI Stencils – Stencils, sketch pads and accessories for UI design

App Cooker – Advanced iOS mockup generator for mobile applications

WireKit – An iPhone app wireframe kit

DevRocket – Photoshop panel plugin for iOS developers