75% of the the developers, however, have another job.
While several developers have made a living out of their apps on smartphones such as Google's Play store and Apple's iOS App Store, the majority of developers generate less than just $500 a month, a study has found.
A recent GigaOM study of app developers found that more than 50 percent of them said they make less than $500 a month from their paid apps.
However, app development isn’t a full-time job for the majority of the respondents. 75 percent of the 352 developers questioned in the study work another job or carry out app development as a part of their main job.
5 percent of app creators, however, are making over $20,000 a month. That said, such developers are usually part of the bigger firms including EA, etc. And then there's Angry Birds creator Rovio, who are reportedly worth over $5.5 billion.
The problem is with these app stores, is there are too many apps.
Maybe you could have made money about 2-3 years ago. Now, it's just flooded.
make a simple but addictive game, and there you go, self sustaining wealth for life.
and the game isnt hard, you could make a flash in the pan game, and it would still net you probably 100k before its forgotten at 1$ a pop.
really wish i had programming skills, as i have ideas, and i know i could be big, but i got no talent and no money to fund talent.
The problem is with these app stores, is there are too many apps.
Maybe you could have made money about 2-3 years ago. Now, it's just flooded.
hah! If only that was the case! It's very much about marketing too, something that if you don't have experience in and can't afford you need to crash and burn multiple times. My last game was on iPhone and was simple and addictive (search "Laundry Rush"), even hit the number 1 spot in Hong Kong and success in dozens of other countries when free for a week. Friends and co-workers were addicted to it, always coming in and telling me each day their new score. I was seeing a girl at the time who we would go back to her place and she would play the game for hours straight while I chilled on the couch and worked on future patches.
It barely cracked 4 figures over 6 months, by which time about a year of my life had gone into it. Not as much as the game before that, 3 years and a lot less success (and it's pretty bad imo, I did the graphics myself). The artist and I clashed and went our own ways and I set the game free which was in conflict with the artist, I actually find joy in people playing my games and when free it was getting over 30k downloads a day compared to a couple bucks a day.
I've finally started work on my follow up, which friends have already fallen in love with, and I'm hoping I'll be more prepared with this one and manage to get some hype going prior to release. But it's never about quality unfortunately, of course I'm biased though
I think it just needs a bit more regulation is all.
Mostly coming from "free, ad supported" versions.
Another POV: 352 developers. That isn't exactly a good number.
250k apps? You couldn't touch them all in your lifetime.
Crossing fingers that the Windows 8 store keeps the quality higher.