60% of iOS developers losing money over iPhone development

[Black_Diamond]

http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/04/io...rs-lose-money/

Nearly 60 percent of iOS developers don’t break even with the apps that they create and market, according to a recent study by App Promo.

While we hear a lot about blockbuster hits like Draw Something or Angry Birds Space, it’s all too easy for apps to get lost in the crowd of more than 600,000 apps in the App Store. Application marketing firm App Promo’s “First Annual Developer Survey” indicates that 59 percent of developers don’t generate enough revenue to break even.

The survey said that only 12 percent of apps earned $50,000 or more and that this “top earner” subset spent an average of 14 percent of their time on marketing. On the side of app developers who weren’t able to break even, 52 percent of app developers set aside $0 and less than 5 percent of their time promoting their apps. That certainly makes the case that apps need at least some marketing to see any real returns.

And they call this the future of gaming when it rings the same bell as Consoles and Handhelds. Well, that's Capitalism for ya.

[AutoSaver]

And the quality of the games that don't make money are?

Most of the stuff on the app store is crap.

[Black_Diamond]

No kidding.

It's like with the Wii, except it's not a stay-at-home device. Sooner or later, the lack of quality control may be its downfall.

[The Rug]

So 40% either break even or make a profit, projects are shorter, risks are smaller, the start up costs are lower and the barrier to entry is almost non existent. That sounds pretty good to me.

[AutoSaver]

No kidding.

It's like with the Wii, except it's not a stay-at-home device. Sooner or later, the lack of quality control may be its downfall.

To be fair, there is as least 1 good game that comes out a month. And those games are the ones that appear on the Top 10 lists.

[Lumines]

mobile is the future

[Nuckles87]

lol, what have I been saying?! You can only have so many Angry Birds and Cut the Ropes. This is a market where the economy doesn't even exist due to a lack of cost control and an overabundance of freeware. Inevitably, your going to have a lot of people who can't meet the sales volume needed to make money.

Which is why this isn't the future of gaming, but instead just an expansion of the market. We've got HD games that cost tens of millions of dollars to make, and we expect them to compete on a market where most people only value their games at a few bucks?

[Classic Fan]

So 40% either break even or make a profit, projects are shorter, risks are smaller, the start up costs are lower and the barrier to entry is almost non existent. That sounds pretty good to me.

Indeed. Obviously not everybody's going to get rich, especially since a lot of the stuff is crap, but where else can a small developer reach such a huge audience with a game? I think even XBLA is only for established developers.