Okay, I know a lot of you wont answer this question because it has to do with your app revenue. Im just curious, about how much $$ per day does the average iPhone app make? Im not talking about the "top 100" apps, but I mean, the small apps that dont get much attention. What the MINIMUM I can expect to make per day for my iPhone app. If you do respond to this question, can you please state which currency you are referring to. Thanks. I really hope someone responds to this!
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iOS Average Revenue for an iPhone app - Per Day
- Thread starter simplymuzik3
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minimum? 0
you may even be in the hole as you have to pay hosting fees to apple once a year
by no means are you guaranteed to make money
you may even be in the hole as you have to pay hosting fees to apple once a year
by no means are you guaranteed to make money
Okay, then lets change the question to "how much does a semi-decent iPhone game" make per day
I think only Apple has the proper data to answer this question. And they're not saying.Okay, then lets change the question to "how much does a semi-decent iPhone game" make per day
Okay, then lets change the question to "how much does a semi-decent iPhone game" make per day
Still much too vague, as what you're describing could make anywhere from $10-$500 a day. But I will say, the vast majority of iPhone apps make less than $5 a day. A large amount make zero.
The average is pretty much a useless number. A good app that stays near the top of the popularity lists could produce a revenue of thousands per day. A good app that is mired down in the bottom 20% of the popularity charts could easily not sell at all on most days.
But remember that an average of $4 in sales per day will net you around a thousand annualized.
But remember that an average of $4 in sales per day will net you around a thousand annualized.
I'm working on an eBook (free) and Chapter 1 is in the upcoming iPhone Life magazine. Whatever the average dev makes is irrelevant. Make your app sell better than average with a few good marketing tips.
Hi there,
Well I have been building iPhone apps (as a kinda hobby/small business) for over 2 years now. I have 35 apps in the app store and currently make around £160 per week... Have to say for the effort I have put in am concerned this figure is so low :-/
... especially as some of my apps are pretty good (in my humble opinion) ;-).
Cheers.
Well I have been building iPhone apps (as a kinda hobby/small business) for over 2 years now. I have 35 apps in the app store and currently make around £160 per week... Have to say for the effort I have put in am concerned this figure is so low :-/
... especially as some of my apps are pretty good (in my humble opinion) ;-).
Cheers.
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Not to sound rude or anything, but I'm surprised you keep at it with such a low revenue / app figure.
My apps (just two) are currently bringing in about $2/week right now (so I'm looking at just barely making more than I spent to enroll in the developer program if I remain on this track.) I have a few plans to bring up revenue on them with some promotions and such, if those don't bring it up above $10/week, I'm probably going to... well, not stop developing altogether, as I like it too much, but it's going to be shifted down in my priorities from being treated like it's a job to just a hobby.
My apps (just two) are currently bringing in about $2/week right now (so I'm looking at just barely making more than I spent to enroll in the developer program if I remain on this track.) I have a few plans to bring up revenue on them with some promotions and such, if those don't bring it up above $10/week, I'm probably going to... well, not stop developing altogether, as I like it too much, but it's going to be shifted down in my priorities from being treated like it's a job to just a hobby.
A lotto, but the odds might be less bad
The answer to the "Average Revenue for an iPhone app" is similar to the answer for the average return on a lotto ticket. Knowing that the expected value average is 20 cents on the dollar (or whatever) tells you nothing about what you will really get back from the purchase of any single $1 state lottery ticket.
The odds for apps are bad, but not nearly as bad as spending a few thousand dollars on lotto tickets. $3 Billion, already payed out by Apple, divided by the number of developers will give you this useless average. Assuming 250K devs, an app is a lotto ticket with an "average" payout of $12k.
That's most likely more than a bit more intelligent gamble than spending a few months salary on lotto tickets.
And an extensive amont of effective marketing on top of an Apple featured or top quality app seems to help the odds somewhat.
The answer to the "Average Revenue for an iPhone app" is similar to the answer for the average return on a lotto ticket. Knowing that the expected value average is 20 cents on the dollar (or whatever) tells you nothing about what you will really get back from the purchase of any single $1 state lottery ticket.
The odds for apps are bad, but not nearly as bad as spending a few thousand dollars on lotto tickets. $3 Billion, already payed out by Apple, divided by the number of developers will give you this useless average. Assuming 250K devs, an app is a lotto ticket with an "average" payout of $12k.
That's most likely more than a bit more intelligent gamble than spending a few months salary on lotto tickets.
And an extensive amont of effective marketing on top of an Apple featured or top quality app seems to help the odds somewhat.
How many games are there that have high end graphics and aren't successful?
I've yet to hear about any.
My plan is to always operate spending next to no money (I'll pay the developer fees and for devices and computers to test and program on, but I'd be buying the later two anyways.) My resources are manpower and time (kind of the same thing?) Those are what I will use, not money. If I hire people (I'm thinking about it for my next project,) they'll be receiving a % of the revenue, not wages, because I have no idea how much any project will end up making.
I've yet to hear about any.
My plan is to always operate spending next to no money (I'll pay the developer fees and for devices and computers to test and program on, but I'd be buying the later two anyways.) My resources are manpower and time (kind of the same thing?) Those are what I will use, not money. If I hire people (I'm thinking about it for my next project,) they'll be receiving a % of the revenue, not wages, because I have no idea how much any project will end up making.
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Unfortunately, as you stated, the mean isn't too helpful, and if there was a way to calculate the median it would be much more informative. There are a small number of developers that have made in the millions and a much, much larger group that has made in the hundreds or thousands.
The median (50th percentile of all apps currently in the store) income for a Paid app in the iOS apps store currently averages somewhere near or below $1 per day. You might get a small burst in sales the first couple days after an app first appears in the App store. Or you might not.
That makes the payout for a losing lottery ticket (a median App store app) more than zero, but not by much, especially after factoring in the reported typical app development costs.
The goal has to be to design and market a winning lottery ticket, not to just play the game.
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High end graphics means that they look like they could be from a console game on the GameCube or a newer console. Successful means that the revenue taken in in the first year was equal to or exceeding $30 / man-hours spent on the game.
Then I would have to say that the majority of games that fit that description are complete financial failures on the App Store.
We have 42 apps in the App Store, 60 in the wild.
Our success in the App Store is all over the map. Our Enterprise Apps, the 18 not in the store, are our most successful revenue generators. Why? Because we charged the customer for development and in some cases also get maintenance payments. Just like real software...
In the App Store, we have both paid and ad supported apps. Some sell very well, though we are not in the top 50 in an category.
Some do very poorly, and we are working on ways to improve their return. You do have to advertise and get the word out. This takes cash. Our ad budget would scare you I'm sure...
Some have in app purchases that generate the bulk of their revenue.
None of the ad supported apps has been worthwhile, again you need to get a million downloads to get enough people clicking through ads to generate any interesting return.
There are plenty of opportunities to make money for well written apps. You need to understand your demographic and do what appeals to them.
Good luck.
-t
Our success in the App Store is all over the map. Our Enterprise Apps, the 18 not in the store, are our most successful revenue generators. Why? Because we charged the customer for development and in some cases also get maintenance payments. Just like real software...
In the App Store, we have both paid and ad supported apps. Some sell very well, though we are not in the top 50 in an category.
Some do very poorly, and we are working on ways to improve their return. You do have to advertise and get the word out. This takes cash. Our ad budget would scare you I'm sure...
Some have in app purchases that generate the bulk of their revenue.
None of the ad supported apps has been worthwhile, again you need to get a million downloads to get enough people clicking through ads to generate any interesting return.
There are plenty of opportunities to make money for well written apps. You need to understand your demographic and do what appeals to them.
Good luck.
-t
And it is most likely that your paid apps are well above the median, both in design quality and marketing effort. Those apps tend to be above the median in popularity, and thus revenue.
The average income for an iPhone app is currently an uninteresting and small number. For the median average.
Developers should only be interested in clearly above average apps. If they can't figure out a plan for that, they should probably stay out of the market.
Yeah, app store revenues can be all over the place, as thewitt said. I found some really interesting data on the topic here:
http://www.streamingcolour.com/blog/2011/09/28/results-ios-game-revenue-survey/
Basically, it shows that over half of all app revenues come from the 90th percentile of apps, or the top 10%. Over 25% of apps make less than $200!
Crazy stuff, but really cool data. Check it out
http://www.streamingcolour.com/blog/2011/09/28/results-ios-game-revenue-survey/
Basically, it shows that over half of all app revenues come from the 90th percentile of apps, or the top 10%. Over 25% of apps make less than $200!
Crazy stuff, but really cool data. Check it out
What are thoughts on apps for which development is quick and cheap?
IE, an "I made it in 70 hours and it's not half bad kind of app?"
If it's a $0.99 app, then with 1000 downloads they'd have $10/hour they worked on it (well, $8.50/hour if you consider the cost of joining the developer program.) It's above minimum wage, at least. IDK, that's the approach I took for my latest app... I think I put about 40 hours into the first version, and I intend to put another 30 hours or so into its update, and I'm hoping with a little marketing I can manage to bring in a few hundred dollars to help pay for college.
IE, an "I made it in 70 hours and it's not half bad kind of app?"
If it's a $0.99 app, then with 1000 downloads they'd have $10/hour they worked on it (well, $8.50/hour if you consider the cost of joining the developer program.) It's above minimum wage, at least. IDK, that's the approach I took for my latest app... I think I put about 40 hours into the first version, and I intend to put another 30 hours or so into its update, and I'm hoping with a little marketing I can manage to bring in a few hundred dollars to help pay for college.
1000 downloads still requires averaging about 3 sales per day. That still requires an ABOVE average app in popularity. (The median is closer to 1 per day.)
Successful marketing is one way to bring your app above average in popularity.
It really depends on your app, what is your market? Are you making the hundredth Calculator App in the store? Or are you creating something no one has seen before?
I personally believe the real money is in developing apps for others who don't know how to. I run in to at least one person every week or so that wants an app. When I am in a room and people know I do apps, everyone interested gravitates to me and wants one done. But also I am around business owners a lot so that may play in to it.
I also have raised investment money to get an app done. It took us 50k to build the app and update the website that would run side by side with it. It is also on month 8 of development. Everything is looking outstanding and we are hoping for the best when we submit to the store. Obviously we have a marketing strategy as well.
We were also able to get title sponsorship on our application, which will pay the full investment plus the interest to the investor plus some money left over.
Our app will be 99 cents but also have ads in it since the service we are providing is worth thousands of dollars to the ones who will be using our app.
I personally believe the real money is in developing apps for others who don't know how to. I run in to at least one person every week or so that wants an app. When I am in a room and people know I do apps, everyone interested gravitates to me and wants one done. But also I am around business owners a lot so that may play in to it.
I also have raised investment money to get an app done. It took us 50k to build the app and update the website that would run side by side with it. It is also on month 8 of development. Everything is looking outstanding and we are hoping for the best when we submit to the store. Obviously we have a marketing strategy as well.
We were also able to get title sponsorship on our application, which will pay the full investment plus the interest to the investor plus some money left over.
Our app will be 99 cents but also have ads in it since the service we are providing is worth thousands of dollars to the ones who will be using our app.