Telecom Lead America: ABI Research has suggested
important strategies to make money from mobile apps.
First, don’t get obsessed by mobile and apps, but
remember also the web. Most of the app concepts either support, or are
supported by, a web component.
Second, see product through a long-term lens, asking what
could convince customers to still engage with the app in two years’ time.
Evernote, for example, has excelled at both. It has
skillfully combined the web and the mobile, and at the same time it has also
managed to become a habit for many of its users. It demonstrates that the
longer its customers stick around with a free version of an app, the likelier
they’re going to convert to its premium version.
About two-thirds of app users have spent money on an
application on at least one occasion. Among these paying users, the mean spend
was $14 per month. Behind the seemingly high average amount there are, however,
some striking findings. according to a US consumer survey conducted by ABI
Research.
The median amount among the consumers who spend money on
apps is much lower than the average, just $7.50 per month. This reflects the
disproportionate role of big spenders as a revenue source. The highest-spending
3 percent of all app users account for nearly 20 percent of the total spend,
while over 70 percent spends either nothing or very little,” said Aapo
Markkanen, senior analyst, ABI Research.
The numbers reflect trends in different app categories.
The releases that have best succeeded in making money have typically been utility
apps often used for business purposes, or iOS games monetized through strings
of in-app purchases. In both cases the money comes from a remarkably small base
of customers.
Mobile apps drive smartphone purchases in India, Russia and
Brazil
Mobile app is the primary attraction behind every
smartphone purchase, according to Ericsson ConsumerLab’s Emerging App Culture
report. Faster Internet access is also cited as another main reason behind the
purchase of smartphone among consumers in
Russia, India and Brazil.
The consumer survey found that 69 percent of smartphone
users accessed Internet using apps on a daily basis and 20 percent used
data-intensive services like video, TV, maps or navigation apps daily. New
smartphone users are as smart as mature users in accessing apps.
editor@telecomlead.com
