Vision Mobile’s 10,000 Developer Global Study – Why Developers prefer developing for Android and Apple iOS yet Enterprise makes Steady Money

Smartphones are not only a magnet for thieves but they also a security problem in themselves, as they can be used to track you, the main reason I'm yet to buy a smartphone as noted in my blog article entitled “The Reason why I don't like Smartphones - Location Privacy and How to disable Location Services on Android and iOS”. And clearly, they're hard to make secure from hackers despite their popularity.

Ironically, for Developers, the REAL STEADY money is in developing Apps and Operating Systems, mainly Mobile Operating Systems, for Enterprise and Corporate Clients. This despite how lucrative Game Development may appear even based on my blog article entitled “Netzoo's 2014 Global Games Market Report - Developed World idle time Opportunity for Jamaicans in Video Gaming Design”.

To put it mildly, any Mobile Computing maker i.e. smartphone or Tablet or even a Developer of Mobile phone OS or Apps that wants to climb and pick money from the Enterprise and Corporate Money Tree needs to have Enterprise and Corporate Grade Security solid. That makes developing for Enterprise and Corporate Clients the equivalent of a regular Salary as opposed to making a Video Game or an App and praying that it becomes popular and downloads pick up.

Developers of Apps and Hardware know this. They realize that's where the REAL money is according to a Global Survey by Vision Mobile of some 10,000 developers across over 130 nations as reported in the article “Enterprise Mobile Apps Pay The Most Yet Attract Few Developers”, published 8/02/2014 @ 5:59PM, Forbes:

1.      16% of developers who are targeting Enterprise and Corporate customers

2.      Enterprise Developers earn over US$5000 per App per month

3.      Enterprise Developers and thrice as likely to earn US$25000 per App per month

For those wishing to question how this survey was conducted, please feel free to download the article for free from the link Developer Economics Q3 2014: State of the Developer Nation.

Vision Mobile’s 10,000 Developer Global Study – Everybody loves Android but Enterprise makes more money

These stats from Vision Mobile make for some interesting reading. First, it’s good to note that the study focuses primarily on the Four (4) major Platforms that Developers usually target when deciding to make an App:

1.      Apple iOS

2.      Blackberry 10

3.      Google Android

4.      Windows Phone

Second, the Study establishes the eight (8) types of App Developers we have out there in the first place:

1.      23% are Hunters

2.      24% are Explorers

3.      16% are Guns for Hire

4.      5% are Gold Seekers

5.      8% are Product Extenders

6.      8% are Enterprise IT

7.      4% are Digital Content Publishers

So it’s clears that the motivation for those involved in the App Economy is money as I’d concluded a long time ago in a previous blog article entitled “Amazon set to launch smartphone in Fourth Quarter of 2012AD - The App Economy and the Increasing Importance of Digical Content”.

Somewhat personally upset that Digital Content Publishers only account for 4%, but with Oyster, Scribd and now Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited as descried my blog article entitled “Amazon launches US$9.99 Kindle Unlimited - Oyster and Scribd got served by Earth’s Most Customer Centric Company but pay Indies Publishers better”, it’s sorta pointless for a small team of Developers to make an App just deliver Videos, Audio or even published works such as books.

67% of the Seasoned Developers mainly target customers with 15% going after Enterprise customers. And as expected, they’re really big on Android, with 74% targeting Google Android with many Developers going on to develop Native Apps for Android.

Not surprising as despite Apple having more Web Traffic in the US of A during the period Tuesday July 1^st 2014 to Monday July 28^th 2014 according to Ad Network Chitika as noted in my blog article entitled “Ad Network Chitika says Apple iPhone has most Web Traffic - Despite smaller screen Apples and Oranges makes Bittersweet Conclusions”, Google Android’s First Quarter of 2014 Mobile Advertising Marketshare beats Apple iOS.

As such, my analysis, albeit comparing Apple and Oranges, correlates well with the results of Vision Mobile’s Global Survey; Apple iOS, for Developers, comes in at a close second at 64%. Good to note here that Apple’s a lot more efficient at converting Mobile Internet Browsers into buyers of Apps from their Apple iTunes Store as noted in my blog article entitled “Google Android Top Dog in Mobile Ad Marketshare in First Quarter of 2014 – Apple iOS STILL more efficient at Mobile Advertising powered by iTunes”.

Vision Mobile on Programming Language – Java and Objective C come out on top

Yes, you read that right and the stats don’t lie. The Programming Language preference, however, is dependent on the Platform that the Developers favoured most of all. On the Google Android Platform, an overwhelming 58% use Java, with a similar majority of 64% on Windows Phone with a preference for C#. Apple Developers are in love with Objective C at 53% while Blackberry 10 Developers appear to be fans of mostly C/C++.

Placed side by side, the Programming Language preferences break down as shown on the graph below. This should give you a clear picture, once and for all, what language to develop your App in, albeit ultimately this is really up to you.

The clear majority overall is Java, being as Google Android smartphones are the dominant OS Globally as noted in my blog article entitled “IDC Stats for Second Quarter of 2014 points to Asian Smartphone Rise – How cheaper smartphones are slowly killing BOTH Apple and Samsung marketshare”. As such, the Apple iPhone would naturally come in second at 32%, based on the graph above.

However, when broken down by Region, Android Global Dominance is clearly biased towards the Developing World, with Developers in those regions favouring Android Smartphone as they’re cheaper and more ubiquitous. The Graph below makes that Crystal clear.

This includes countries such as:

1.      Africa and the Middle East

2.      East Asia

3.      South America

4.      South Asia

The Developers that live in the Developed World Countries outside of the US of are the places where Apple iOS has a strong mindshare and Marketshare, specifically:

1.      Eastern Europe, Russia and former CIS

2.      North America

3.      Western Europe and Israel

It thus becomes apparent from this very simple analysis that although the World is Google Android’s Oyster. However, when broken down by region, Developer Loyalty follows local Customer buying Trends for smartphones, with a split if you will between the Developed and Developing Worlds.

This in turn, determines the Programming Language used by the Developers.

Vision Mobile’s Developers – Apple iOS Developers make the most money

Again, that conclusion was obvious, if you’d taken note of that last chart from the Vision Mobile Study that broke the World down into regions. The Developers that lived in the Developed World Regions are most likely, from a common-sense point of view, to have access to Credit Cards or Prepaid Debit Cards and be more affluent i.e. have disposable income to spend on Apps.

Interestingly, in those Regions, Apple iOS is equally favoured or more in the case of Oceania as not only are there more smartphones, but customer are more likely to spend more to buy Apps as well as on In-App purchases.

Developers in those regions that I marked as the Developing World, are again using Common sense, to not have ready access to a Credit Card or Prepaid Debit Card Facility and more likely to be less affluent i.e. little or no disposable income to spend on Apps.

Again, in those Regions, Google Android is dominant as not only are there more smartphones, but customer are more likely to own sub-US$299 budget smartphones made in China as noted in my blog article entitled “IDC Stats for Second Quarter of 2014 points to Asian Smartphone Rise – How cheaper smartphones are slowly killing BOTH Apple and Samsung marketshare”.

Thus, they’re more likely to download free Apps and even Apps associated with VoIP Calling. Developers in these regions of the World, however, thanks to the popularity of are more likely to make money from Advertising revenue as noted in my blog article entitled “Google Android Top Dog in Mobile Ad Marketshare in First Quarter of 2014 – Apple iOS STILL more efficient at Mobile Advertising powered by iTunes”.

Then again, independent of the Vision Mobile Study, my blog article entitled “Ad Network Chitika says Apple iPhone has most Web Traffic - Despite smaller screen Apples and Oranges makes Bittersweet Conclusions” came to the same conclusions. Although Google Android has a larger marketshare Globally, Apple iOS makes more money for Developers as they’re more likely to spend money on buying Apps and In-App purchases.

Developers and Apps - Too much focus on Games and not enough on Enterprise Apps

Choosing the right Platform to Develop for is important as it boils down to what regions you’re in as well as what Region you wish to market your Apps. From the Vision Mobile Study Charts, it's clear that Developers on the Google Android Platform are struggling to make money as Developers as customers don't spend money on Apps:

1.      24% make nothing at all.

2.      88% make less than US$10,000 per App per month

3.      9% make between US$10000 to US$100000 per App per month

4.      2% have mobile Apps making over US$100000 a month 

The only way to be successful in the App Economy is apparently to make games and make them available on BOTH the Google Play Store for Google Android and Apple iTunes Store for the Apple iOS smartphones. Vietnamese Developer Dong Nguyen Game Development Studio DotGears  clearly demonstrates this as noted in my blog article entitled “Flappy Birds is No. 1 Free Game on Apple iTunes and No. 2 on Google Play Store - Flappy Birds is Wonder Woman's Nemesis Ares Armour fuelled by Rage which only Meditation avails”.

His game Flappy Bird was clocking some US$50,000 per day JUST from In-Game Advertising Revenue before he took it down due to the negative feedback from the game as noted in my blog article entitled “Developer Dong Nguyen takes down US$50000 a day Flappy Bird App - Unwanted Media Attention leaves DotGears Game as the first In-App Advertising Gaming App”.

There are CLEARLY many security concerns which have to be addressed before Developers can even think of approaching Enterprise and Corporate clients. Not to mention the fact that they have to get themselves more business-like i.e. properly registered and appear professional, as many Enterprise and Corporate clients like doing business with App Developers that are stable and long-terms in their goals and not just in it to capitalize on this boom in smartphones and Tablets.

Otherwise Games, the low hanging fruit, will continue to be the main source of income for the Many Developers across the World, especially those Developers committed to Google Android. For now, Enterprise and Corporate Customers remain an elusive fruit that only a few can pick.

Here’s the link:

Developer Economics Q3 2014: State of the Developer Nation.