Around half of mobile app demand comes from hobbyists and startups
Companies increasingly want to take their business to new consumers by using mobile sites and apps. But it seems that it's startups and hobbyists that are driving a big chunk of app demand.
ContractIQ, which offers a service that matches developers to software projects, has produced its latest report on app development trends and pricing, offering some interesting insights into the market.
Key findings include the difference between the cheapest app development market (Indonesia) and the costliest (USA) being about 30x. In addition only 10 percent of app publishers know what SDKs to use for their apps. The lack of knowledge among customers about SDKs and APIs leaves developers to evangelize the technology.
The report shows that 75 percent of app developers surveyed from over 500 app development agencies believe that demand for app development services will be robust in 2015. But a high proportion of their demand comes from hobbyists and idea stage entrepreneurs, the segments that are most susceptible to macroeconomic shocks. Even in a buoyant market, developers say that only 1 in 4 customers publishing an app have gone on to become a viable business.
Most developers are also confident that the rates they charge will rise by five to 10 percent in 2015, though this confidence is higher among iOS and Android developers than those working in Windows and HTML 5.
The full report, with more information about worldwide app pricing trends and the most popular development tools, is available to download from the ContractIQ website.
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