May 11, 2023
Update
Small developers on the App Store have grown revenue by 64 percent over the past two years.
Independent research has found resilience in small developers, their growth is greater than large developers
An independent study by economists at the Analysis Group found that smaller developers on the App Store grew their businesses and reached more customers worldwide than larger developers. With the help of various App Store tools and initiatives, small developers worldwide – those earning up to $1 million a year and less than 1 million annual downloads – grew their revenue by 71 percent between 2020 and 2022. In Europe, these developers saw a 64 percent increase in revenue, with the highest revenue growth in countries including France (122 percent), the United Kingdom (58 percent) and Germany (37 percent).
Entrepreneurs will find new opportunities and global growth
In their 2022 study titled “Small Business Developers and App Creators in App Stores,” they found that revenue growth for small storefront developers from 2020 is greater than that of larger developers.These entrepreneurs have identified new avenues. the needs of their users. Small developers — who comprise more than 90 percent of all developers in the App Store — saw revenue increases across all app categories; Health and fitness, sports and lifestyle apps, especially from smaller developers, have more than doubled their revenue in the past two years.
With the App Store’s global reach in 175 countries and over 40 languages, and Apple’s presence on more than 2 billion active devices worldwide, developers of all sizes have built successful businesses. By 2022, nearly 80 percent of small developers were active on multiple storefronts and 40 percent of all small developer app downloads came from users outside of each developer’s country. Additionally, the economists found that developers who monetize their apps by selling digital products and services on multiple storefronts have an average of 40 times more storefront revenue than users.
The study also found that the App Store helped developers grow beyond small teams to reach their businesses globally. Many developers who sold digital goods and services on the App Store and made more than $1 million in revenue by 2022 were small developers in the past. 40 percent of these global developers were not on the App Store or had less than $10,000 in revenue five years ago.
The analyst group’s economists also found that thousands of new developers and entrepreneurs will join the App Store from around the world by 2022. Of this new set of developers, 25 percent came from Europe, 23 percent from China, 14 percent from the United States, 4 percent from Japan, and 35 percent from other regions, including South Korea, India, and Brazil.
Entrepreneurs shine on the app store
Live flight tracking app plane finder It allows users to easily view air traffic patterns by tracking aircraft around the world in real time. Developed by the husband and wife team of Jodi and Lee Armstrong, the app first launched over a decade ago.
When we first created the app in 2009, being able to track aircraft in real-time wasn’t a big deal, and it wasn’t very accessible to the everyday person, let alone a mobile device. . “Not long after the introduction of the iPhone and the App Store, we saw an opportunity to use both of our backgrounds in IT and data analytics to create something we had never seen before.”
Over the years, Planseeker has been a small team with a purpose – introducing new innovations that make live monitoring easy and accessible with incredible accuracy. This includes popular features such as 3D mode, which uses Metal graphics to visualize thousands of aircraft from around the world. Planseeker’s subscription-based business has grown 60 percent year over year over the past two years as a loyal community of users continues to rely on the app for real-time monitoring.
While it continues to focus on staying small, Planfinder relies on resources like Apple’s Small Business Program to bring more into the community. “The program has made a big difference and allowed us to hire more staff to build the exciting experiences our users want to see in the app,” said Lee Armstrong, founder and chief technology officer of Planseeker. “Running any business is not cheap, and we take great pride in the accuracy and innovation we’re able to deliver to our customers. No matter how much our business grows, the app will always remain the core of what we do.
Independent game studio Madbox was launched in 2018 with the desire to create games that make people smile. More than 15 successful titles have been launched over the past four years, but it’s the studio’s multiplayer mobile tournament game Pocket Champs that’s growing the fastest with an active fan base of 2 million. Users.
As Madbox worked to better understand the gaming market, the studio turned to the App Store Foundations program to build gaming experiences it thought would resonate with players.
“Being a part of the program made us believe in what’s possible for our game,” said Madbox Founder and CEO Maxime Dimere. “Working with the App Store team not only gives us access to product and technical experts; it also helps us understand the architecture of best-in-class apps. We’re always striving to build experiences that make people smile, and working with Apple has helped us expand that reality.”
Since Pocket Champs launched last August, the game has remained free-to-play, giving players opportunities to unlock exclusive content and access exclusive in-app events within the game. Quality gameplay and constant introduction of new features has allowed the studio to show 100 percent year-on-year growth.
“At Madbox, we’ve always been a bunch of dreamers. Our studio has spent some time not only building games, but also creating experiences that really resonate with our users. Pocket Champs is the perfect expression of what our team can create – a fun, fresh and accessible game for individuals and families with a touch of madness,” says Demire.
LENGO, a language learning app launched in 2020 With over 2,800 subjects and 29 languages available for users to learn, it is making education accessible to all. Founder and CEO Nils Bernschneider created the app after experiencing challenges in school and being diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. Using his passion for coding, Bernschneider created a platform that helped him overcome his own learning barriers, providing users with the content and technology they needed to improve their communication skills.
“Once I got into the Apple developer program, I found my passion,” says Bernschneider. “My perspective as a developer has completely changed, and I love being able to create value for other people with the apps I develop.”
With nearly 2 million downloads on iOS, LENGO is helping people build their vocabulary, add their own words, improve their grammar, and track their progress over time. What started as a passion project has now resulted in a platform that helps both beginners and advanced language enthusiasts alike. LENGO has seen 120 percent year-over-year growth in the past year alone. As alumni of the App Store Foundation program, customized curriculum and one-on-one guidance from Apple experts helped develop one of the app’s newest features — content sharing and detailed user accounts that let consumers easily share with others and build community. .
“For me, there’s always that one kid in the class who doesn’t do things the way everyone else does — and I was that kid,” says Bernschneider. “Learning how to code in Swift and having the support of friends and family was crucial for me. I hope that what I have created with LENGO will help people not only learn, but also improve their communication skills.
Developer resources are growing.
Developers of all sizes have built successful businesses while taking advantage of the App Store’s global reach. The Apple App Store offers several initiatives to support small developers on the App Store, including the Small Business Program, Apple Entrepreneur Camp, App Accelerator, App Store Foundation Program, and Apple Developer Academies. In addition, ongoing informative series such as App Store Sessions, Ask Apple and Tech Talks offer developers even more opportunities to connect with Apple experts throughout the year for insight, support and feedback on the latest features and technologies.
An extensive set of free tools and frameworks — including software development kits (SDKs) and developer services with more than 250,000 APIs — support developers of apps for iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, tvOS and watchOS. These tools allow developers to easily and quickly add new functionality to their apps, and leverage powerful capabilities like machine learning, augmented reality, and more. The Swift Student Challenge, as well as open access tools like Everyone Code and Swift Playgrounds, ensure that coding technology is accessible and inclusive.
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