Mobile app development has become an important formula for the prosperity of any industry today. Within a short time, apps have penetrated almost every known industry — entertainment, health, finance, education, business, communication, art, travel — you name it.
Over 22 % of the global Smartphone market share is held by Apple’s iPhone devices. By November 2014, Apple reached 1 billion phones in sales.
So is iPhone App Development Profitable Anyway?
Well, yes it is! There are people who make huge revenues from a successful single app alone. The question is very relevant, but should be asked in accordance with the particular app that you are about to develop. There are cross platform apps for sure, but here we are focusing on apps that target the iPhone owners alone.
The iPhone market is growing. So does the iPhone app market. Even though Android is the leading app platform with 1.6 million apps available, Apple app store leads closely in the second place with over 1.5 million apps. The App store is flooded with even more apps every single day.
The major factor that affects the profitability of an app is the production cost. Single platform iOS apps costs lesser than cross-platform apps and apps developed for the android platform, since the Android OS is highly fragmented.
Some Tips to Develop Profitable iPhone Apps
IPhone app development, or any other app development for that case, is not a straightforward process. It needs thoughtful development ideas, careful design, planned execution and months of teamwork and continuous effort post-launch to improve the app’s visibility. Keep a check on the factors below that may help to ensure your app’s success.
What the Market Needs
“There are so many apps out there, it’s an extremely crowded market so that the barrier to entry is so low and the barrier to success is so high. But you’re not necessarily aiming to have the biggest game out there, so there’s still room to make a business out of it if you’re trying to capture a certain audience.” Trefry, Gigantic Mechanic.
We always see a mighty competition that is going on in the market. This is true for the starters and the big bosses of the industry. So, it is important that you do a thorough research on whether the idea for your app is inside of an over saturated market or an opportunity market.
Design Uncomplicated Apps
The most common mistake that developers and designers tend to make is, building the app as complex as they can. One should understand the difference between a great app and a complicated app. The developer should not see app development as an opportunity to apply or demonstrate all his programming knowledge.
Abiding to Apple’s App Guidelines
Getting approval from Apple is the first footstep that you need to take after an iPhone app development. Right from the development phase, you should give prime importance to designing your app in accordance with the Apple’s rules and regulations. This will save you the time that you may need to spend waiting and revising, after your apps get rejected by Apple.
Post-Launch Marketing of your App
Once your app is in the app store, you may need to focus on matters such as improving your app’s search visibility, taking continuous effort to get to the top app chart, how and when to put offers and discounts, devising ways to sell more in-app s etc. What every great app needs for its success is a strong marketing strategy. This includes all the SEO activities and marketing techniques.
While doing marketing for an app, your steps could become fruitful only if you provide them with the right content. Even if you put in your best efforts, if your app is not good enough, the end result can disappoint you.
The first thing that should get your attention is your app icon, name, and the screenshots. Studies conducted show that, the customers take their decision whether to download an app or not, within the first 2 seconds after they land on your page. Even if your app does have some great features to offer and amazing interactivity that is detailed in the description section, this will give hardly any advantage since most people are not interested readers.
You can give publicity even before you release your app. You can kick start by sharing it with your friends, colleagues and family on social networking sites and asking them to write about it on their wall. You should follow up with them after the release of your app in the app store. Along with that, you can seek all viable methods including conventional methods to promote your app.
At the end of the day, it all depends on how you measure your success. For some, it is just the profit factor but for others it is the user satisfaction that might be valued more.