May 11, 2023
UPDATE
Small developers on the App Store have seen revenue grow 71 percent over the past two years
An independent study found that small developers are resilient, whose growth outpaces large developers
An independent study conducted by analysis group economists found that small App Store developers grew their business and reached more customers around the world, even outpacing larger developers. With the support of a wide variety of App Store tools and initiatives, small developers worldwide — defined as those earning up to $1 million a year and having fewer than 1 million downloads a year — will grow their revenue by 71 percent between 2020 and 2022 watch it grow. those developers saw an above-average profit increase of 87 percent during the same period.
Entrepreneurs find new opportunities and global growth
In a new study titled “Small Business Developers and App Creators on the App Store in 2022,” economists from the Analysis Group found that the revenue growth of small developers operating on the retail floor since 2020 outpaced that of large developers, as these entrepreneurs discovered new ways to tap into the needs of their users. Small developers — who make up more than 90 percent of all developers in the App Store — saw revenue increase across all app categories; In particular, health and fitness, sports and lifestyle apps from small developers have more than doubled their revenues in the past two years.
Developers of all sizes have built successful businesses while taking advantage of the App Store’s global reach in 175 countries and more than 40 languages, and Apple’s installed base of more than 2 billion active devices around the world. By 2022, nearly 80 percent of small developers were active on multiple stores, and about 40 percent of all small developers’ total app downloads came from users outside each developer’s home country. In addition, the economists found that developers who monetize their apps by selling digital goods and services on multiple stores generate revenue from users at more than 40 stores on average.
The research also shows that the App Store has helped developers grow beyond small teams and scale their businesses to reach global reach. Many developers who sold digital goods and services on the App Store and made more than $1 million in 2022 were previously small developers. Of these global developers, 40 percent were not active on the App Store or had less than $10,000 in revenue just five years ago.
Analysis Group economists also found that thousands of new developers and entrepreneurs will join the App Store from around the world by 2022. Of this group of new developers, about 25 percent came from Europe, 23 percent from China, 14 percent from the US, 4 percent from Japan, and 35 percent from other regions, including South Korea, India, and Brazil.
Small businesses shine in the App Store
Mindful Mamas, an all-encompassing mental wellbeing app, helps moms and parents tackle the unique challenges of motherhood. Since 2020, the app has been helping mothers find time for themselves. The app was co-founded by licensed psychologist Terra LaRock, who was dealing with her own harrowing postpartum experience. As mental health conversations became more transparent, LaRock saw an opportunity to offer easily accessible resources to support mothers through evidence-based guided meditation, sleep stories, and classes that help users reduce anxiety and stress.
As a small team of four, Mindful Mamas has used a variety of tools to accomplish its mission, including Apple’s Small Business Program. The team has been successful in building new features and expanding strategic relationships with healthcare providers using the app as part of their services.
“Having more income available has given our company a longer runway to invest in more feature development and provide personalized experiences to moms,” said LaRock, CEO of Mindful Mamas. Over the past year, this has included new in-app events and the introduction of a mood tracker that delivers more tailored insights to “mommies,” as the app endearingly calls its users.
“This program has also allowed us to develop more of Apple’s great features, such as a daily incentive widget, which is currently in development and will be available this summer,” said Jillian Lee Stout, co-founder and lead product and technology at Mindful Mamas. officer.
Today, more than 20,000 mothers turn to Mindful Mamas for support every month. Mothers who are most active on the app use the app twice a day, and 86 percent of them report feeling better or much better after one practice. Mindful Mamas is focused on expanding the current offering of programs for children and providing more content for all mothers and parents as their needs evolve.
Launched in 2018, the landscape design app iScape helps users easily visualize outdoor projects from start to finish. With over a decade of landscape contractor experience, CEO and founder Patrick Pozzuto created the augmented reality app to put inspiration back in the hands of homeowners and professionals.
“I felt that things could be successful, and that technology would be a powerful solution to help users save time and see a completed project before things even begin,” explains Pozzuto.
Taking his idea from scratch to reality, Pozzuto developed iScape, which uses ARKit and SpriteKit to add 2D and 3D models to a user’s environment, enabling them to visualize, design and plan what is needed for an outdoor living project .
“As a founder, you have to keep up with the latest and greatest technologies, and Apple helped me do that. Even with the growth we experienced naturally during the pandemic, as people had more time to invest in housing projects, we have continued to benefit from our investments in leading technologies year after year,” he says.
With over 2.5 million downloads, iScape has experienced triple-digit growth year over year. With a talented team backing the app, iScape has a bright future ahead as professionals, retailers and homeowners turn to the app for its technical capabilities and ability to save users time, money and effort.
Developer resources are growing
Developers of all sizes have built successful businesses while taking advantage of the App Store’s global reach. Apple offers a number of initiatives to support small developers on the App Store, including the App Store Small Business Program, Apple Entrepreneur Camp, App Accelerators, and Apple Developer Academies. In addition, ongoing resource series such as App Store Sessions, Ask Apple, and Tech Talks give developers even more opportunities to connect directly with Apple experts throughout the year for insight, support, and feedback on the latest features and technologies available.
A comprehensive suite of free tools and frameworks — including software development kits (SDKs) and developer services with more than 250,000 APIs — help developers build apps for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS. With these tools, developers can easily and quickly add new functionality to their apps and take advantage of powerful capabilities such as machine learning, augmented reality and much more. The Swift Student Challenge and open access tools such as Everyone Can Code and Swift Playgrounds ensure that the power of coding technology is accessible and inclusive.
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