
How much money can you make in the iOS App Store? - dralison
http://blog.riverofnewsapp.com/2010/10/how-much-money-can-you-make-on-app.html
======
10char
It'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/...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brocabulary-new-and-
improved/id320767043?mt=8&ls=1)

~~~
alooPotato
> \- Build apps fast and be agile; don't focus on one app for months on end
> without launching. MVP and get real-world feedback.

In general I believe the whole lean/MVP thing, but I wonder about its
applicability in the app store.

Launching without a fully baked product may hamstring you for a while if you
get bad reviews/ratings upfront. Also, by having a great product from the
start, you may be able to get ranked higher because you get free exposure in
the "new" lists. If you have a barebones product, aren't you essentially
wasting the free exposure you get for being a new app (that you won't get when
you update)?

~~~
10char
Very true point, as it's a crucial difference between your typical web app
launch and an App Store launch.

Example: When I launched Brocabulary two years ago, I thought it would be a
good idea to have a "free week" promotion. Results: 150+ reviews permanently
attached to the rating that are far from representative of the current
product. And a good chunk of those reviews are (justly) not so hot.

Ratings and reviews are _killer_ on the App Store. Bad, edge-case experiences
only really hurt you on the web if they're by a famous blogger or the like. On
the App Store, you get a bad review because someone didn't read the
description that says the app doesn't work on older generation iPod Touches
without microphones and it's stuck there forever. It's just what comes with
the territory.

Never launch a bad product, but there are many articles and examples that
point out why it isn't a fantastic idea to build on an unproven idea for
months. Just like on the web, you should go for a well-executed MVP with
steady improvement. Maybe a little more than you might on the web, but the
idea still applies.

Plus, with each update, you get a chance to reset your public reviews and
ratings (after you hit a certain limit, Apple will display the average score
only for that version). I wish the author had overlayed his update releases on
the graph, as I bet that many of those spikes come from them.

Ejemplo: Path. Their launch product was pretty minimal, but _just_ useable
enough. They've released solid update after update adding new features. Now,
it helps that they've got some players backing them and probably got Apple's
attention ahead of time, but I think it's still a strategy worth looking at.

Ejemplo: Rdio. I've been an Rdio subscriber since when they launched last
summer, and their iPhone app wasn't so great when it first came out. It
worked, but all it could really do was play songs. Month after month a new
update came out that added new, much-needed features. Hell, they only hit 1.0
a few weeks ago and it's obvious that all the iterations have amounted to a
solid app.

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bignoggins
I've made 100K in the app store during my first 8 months. I agree that
diversification is key. Don't go for a homerun, go for multiple singles. This
is my strategy and has worked well so far:

1\. Always release a free ad-supported version of the app. Advertising revenue
has a much better "long tail" than paid apps. There is ~ 5% conversion rate,
so your paid apps do better also.

2\. Target a specific niche. There is far less competition and you can charge
more money. My main apps go for $5 on iPhone and $8 on iPad. If you try to
release a "Angry Birds" killer for 0.99c, you are seriously rolling the dice.

3\. Re-use the same code base to make multiple apps. This should be done with
caution, as there is a fine line between making the most from your work and
spamming the app store (which can get you banned). Almost all of my apps share
a common code base. This is a sure way to increase discoverability.

Anyway, that's been my experience. As full disclosure I HAVE been featured by
Apple and reached the Top 60 top grossing on the app store, so my earnings are
a bit distorted by that spike. But even in my lowest month, I have never
dipped below $7500.

~~~
r00k
Awesome to hear about your numbers.

Would you mind linking to your most popular application?

~~~
bignoggins
Sure. it's called fantasy monster, you can find it on the app store.

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zmmmmm
I hate to be a nit picker on what is otherwise such a good post, but I have to
pick a nit with this point:

> But no one else has ever enabled an independent developer like myself to
> connect with so many potential customers

The internet enabled that 10 or 15 years ago and there are countless
individual devs who've created successful software products and whole
businesses by selling direct. Even better, these people aren't bound to
anybody's corporate teat the way iOS developers are to Apple. Apple certainly
created a useful new market segment for the individual developer to address
but I find this hubris about it pretty sickening sometimes.

~~~
DylanG
I'm the author of the blog post linked here. Thanks for the interest and
thoughtful replies.

I certainly have complaints about the dev process Apple has created but I
stand by my statement that Apple has allowed me to connect to more potential
customers than ever was possible before.

The web has been available to the average person for 10-15 years but that
doesn't mean I would have been able to get those people to look at my product.
If I held a yard sale I can't realistically say that I have a potential market
of all 600k people in Baltimore. Maybe I put up signs around my neighborhood,
a small number of people see them and an even smaller number go out of their
way to see what I'm selling.

But if I'm given a shop in the high traffic inner harbor, I have access to
vastly more people who will already be drawn to the area and happen to see my
wares. And even better, that shop in the high traffic area is decorated nicely
and already set up with a credit card processing system. All I need to do is
line the shelves with product.

I'll stop before I carry the analogy to the point of silliness, but for me to
succeed without the App Store would have taken a different kind of product,
more infrastructure and a lot more time spent on the things I don't know how
to do. Despite theoretical potential, I never would have made it happen. The
App Store significantly lowers the barrier to entry.

When I started as a software developer I dreamed of having a product on the
shelves at Babbages and CompUSA. I feel I've finally achieved the modern
equivalent of that. I would not have been able to make that happen without the
ecosystem Apple has set up.

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bane
This 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?

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clare
Great 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.

~~~
yoda_sl
You are getting initially some good exposure when the app is first released
and the app appear on the first page of the AppStore. If you are super lucky
your app can feature in the noteworthy section or fully featured. But getting
fully featured is not easy and it is up to Apple only to decide on that. One
thing that I will definitely recommend is to add some localization for a few
other languages. Yes the US AppStore generate potentially the largest source
of revenue but other non English speaking countries can be another way to
climb in the chart and get some coverage to get your app noticed. One of my
app was featured one time on an italian web site and there was definitely a
nice side effect on sales + ranking in the Italian store.

(edit: typo/re-wording)

~~~
hallmark
In your own experience, did the app need to be localized at the initial launch
or did you see boosts in sales after localizing your app later on?

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calebhicks
An interesting thought for the original writer (Dylan Ginsburg):

Not only will you get the benefits of each new app, but as you build a library
of apps, you'll get the long-tail benefits of each, significantly raising your
income along the way.

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DylanG
I've posted a follow up to the original article.

[http://blog.riverofnewsapp.com/2011/03/update-how-much-
money...](http://blog.riverofnewsapp.com/2011/03/update-how-much-money-can-
you-make-on.html)

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absconditus
This article is from the fall. Is there an update?

~~~
T-hawk
Do we need an update? I'm not sure if the iOS app market has changed in just a
few months. The Verizon iPhone seems to be making a small splash at best and
selling mostly to existing iPhone owners.

~~~
Tycho
Well, hasn't the iPad userbase almost doubled in that time?

