related to the potential of apps earning money in the future? I am hoping to get a vibe from everyone here if the earning potential is going to grow or if it will stay about the same or decline. Will the pace of app development slow down? (number of apps released) Will new device sales bring new life! (iPad etc) Will new technologies (by Apple and devs) bring new possibilities. I am thinking about sinking more money into this madness, but after "Caveman Test" I am not so sure anymore. Would like to know if everyone is still moving full steam ahead or if the tires are falling off. I have my hand brake on and will drive around like that until I smell something burning!
Technology tends to get smaller as time passes, so it only makes sense that the mobile software market is going to keep growing. I think that every new device that sells well is an opportunity. I also think that there are good odds that a decade from now, the app store (if it's still around) is going to have loads of competition from other models of mobile software distribution. Even if you don't make a lot of money, your experience as a developer in a rapidly growing industry will become more valuable as time goes by. So, I'm in it for the long haul! ..Of course, I'm a freelance artist, so I can't exactly say that I'm putting all of my eggs in one basket.
Publishers losing money will step back and try new strategies. But I don't see app development slowing down. It's a lot like buying a lottery ticket. People buying lottery tickets realize the odds are stacked against them, but it doesn't stop them from hoping. And there are tons of people that have always developed games as a hobby -they now have a worldwide distribution model, and will use it, even if they make little or no money. And we're going to see a flood of flash-based apps when adobe releases their upcoming SDK with iphone support. I'm skeptical that ipad will be a big factor or game changer. We'll see the same "race to the bottom" pricing with ipad-only apps, but with a smaller marketplace. AppStore customer base overall will continue to grow as more people buy idevices - ipod, iphone, ipad. But those profits will continue to go disproportionately to the publishers with ranked, highly visible apps. What's popular today may not be popular tomorrow. An app with significant up-front production costs has a real risk of never paying for itself. And a novel idea can be trumped by someone that independently thinks of the same thing but brings it to market first. If you keep your day job and work within a revenue sharing model, you can at least do serious development without having to risk losing your shirt.
This game was released March 1st and it is now the #3 Top App. http://appshopper.com/games/alpine-crawler-world http://148apps.biz/app-store-metrics/ Count of Application Submissions [details] This Month (Games): 2,009 ( 84 / day ) This Month (Non-Games): 14,387 ( 599 / day ) This Month (Total): 16,396 ( 683 / day )
Yep so it just shows there is still hope for Indie devs, which is why I'm still in it for the long haul, every day is a new chance to become the next top paid app
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/03/08/never-ending-goldrush-doodle-jump-for-iphone-smashes-through-3-million-sales/
Things are going to continue expanding for quite some time. With the iPad coming and more adopters I don't see the expansion leveling off for quite some time.
