Vision Mobile recently released their Developer Economics Q1 2014 State of the Developer Nation Report, which seeks to provide a state of the union on the app economy – including platforms, revenue models and developer tools.
We found several stats from the report that we thought you would find interesting:
Mobile developers are a global force.
- Out of a total global mobile developer population of 2.3 million individuals in 2013, Asia has the most app developer citizens at 760,000 individuals, followed by Europe and North America at 680,000 each.
What this means for you:
We hear you, developers all over the world! We love to share stories from our hometown in Waterloo, Canada, our neighbors to the south, and all over the world, from Europe to Russia to India. We also encourage you to launch your app in international markets – check out our recent how-to guide. Share your story – leave us your info in the comments section below or reach out to @BlackBerryDev!
Mobile developers are making money.
During 2013, global smartphone sales exceeded those of feature phones, reaching 55% of total handset sales.
- The global app economy is projected to grow to $143 billion in 2016, up from $68 billion in 2013.
- In-app advertising is one of the most popular revenue models.
- 26 percent of app developers are currently developing apps on commission.
- Despite the buzz around watches, TVs and the Internet of Things, smartphones are, and will remain in the foreseeable future, the primary target for app developers.
What this means for you:
Get ready to snag a piece of that revenue pie! We encourage you to learn how you can monetize your app. Check out the following resources:
- BlackBerry Developer Advertising Service
- BlackBerry Developer Payment Service
- Add Digital Goods
- BlackBerry Developer Blog Post: Cash Rules Everything Around Me: Making Money as a Developer
HTML5 is great as a complementary technology to primary dev platforms.
- 37 percent of mobile developers use HTML5 as a platform, i.e. to develop mobile websites or web-apps, while another 15 percent use HTML5 to go beyond the browser, with hybrid apps or a HTML5-to-native tool to target native platforms.
- Overall, about 70 percent of developers use HTML5 in one way or another.
What this means for you:
It’s time to start paying serious attention to HTML5. We have some resources available to help you get started:
We always want to provide you with the best tools and resources to help you accomplish your mobile development goals. You can download a full version of the VisionMobile report here; it paints a pretty complete picture around the challenges and opportunities facing mobile developers today – including BlackBerry developers like you. And of course, we want to hear from you! Let us know how else we can help in the comments below.
