Monetizing Mobile Apps – Your FanTrust Round-Up
2013 marks the first time in human history that we will have a single device for every person on the planet: the mobile phone. This summer, there will be more than 7.1B mobile subscriptions, representing one for every woman, man and child on Earth. Let’s celebrate this historical milestone with a look at today’s trends and transactions in mobile entertainment.
How big is the mobile app industry today? BIG! And getting bigger, according to a variety of credible sources:
- Mobile app downloads doubled in 2012 to 46 billion
- They will double again in 2013 reaching 81 billion
- By 2016, app downloads will reach 310 billion
And revenues look good too. App developers, entertainment companies and marketers will share in a mobile app sector projected to generate $35 billion in revenue by 2014 and $74 billion by 2016.
How are apps making so much money?
In the six years since the dawn of the iPhone and App Store, smartphones and tablets are now dominant players in the digital entertainment space and are competing with the personal computer and the television for revenue.
Revenue models remain in flux. However, the following research highlights some of the best practices for generating significant revenue in the mobile app space.
The biggest change in this area is the nearly wholesale move to the “Freemium” model: users do not pay for the app itself, but for additional content, levels, characters, add-ons, updates, versions, etc. This model has grown dramatically in the last two years and indicators point to continued growth in the years ahead.
Check-out FanTrust’s round-up of the current mobile app space when it comes to:
- Free vs Paid
- Mobile Gaming Audience & Revenue
- Transactions: From Micro to Macro
All signs point to a bright future for mobile app developers, publishers and distributors, who are finding a good balance with the marketplace: giving fans what they want to buy – and giving away the rest.
Read or download “Monetizing Mobile Apps — Your FanTrust Round-Up”