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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
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iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers

By | July 6, 2011, 11:02am PDT

Summary: If you’re a developer and you’re looking for a niche to burrow into, gaming on the iOS platform seems like the best bet according to research carried out by Nielsen.

If you’re a developer and you’re looking for a niche to burrow into, gaming on the iOS platform seems like the best bet according to research carried out by Nielsen.

How do I know this? Because the data says that 93% of app downloaders who paid for an app within the past 30-days would be willing to pay for a game, and that iOS gamers spend almost twice as much time playing games as the average mobile gamer.

If you are looking to make your fortune from apps, the categories you should stay away from is household and personal care.

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Topics

Developer, Niche, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Apple iOS, Mobile Operating Systems, Games, Application Development, Personal Technology

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers
non-biased 12th Jul
@tonymcs@... The point was not about getting rich, it was which platform and which type of App is most likely to make you money. It was pretty obvious and straight forward, how did you miss it?
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RE: iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers
LoverockDavidson 6th Jul
No way, iOS is already saturated with plenty of games and apps. You would be lucky to get your game noticed in the app store. Developers are finding this out the hard way.
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Yes.... And....
i8thecat3 7th Jul
@LovecockDavidson

IOS is also saturated with a non-fragmented user base that is comprised mainly of non-pirating honest people... But developers already know this which is why they give IOS top priority for anything worth a buck.
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For all those who try to insult the iPad
James Quinn 6th Jul
for being a Toy... SHAME ON YOU! The iPad and iOS are not mere toys they are in fact GREAT MONEY MAKING TOYS!!!! And what is wrong with that!?! It's not an insult it's a compliment:)

Pagan jim
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Tell that to SAP and other Fortune 500 companies which deployed iPads in ..
DeRSSS 6th Jul
@James Quinn: ... their corporate environments. From Verizon to Daimler to Korea Telecom -- iPads work in hundreds of thousand units cumulatively.
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RE: iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers
Rama.NET 6th Jul
@DeRSSS
You are absolutely right about it. I have see a lot of opportunities for iPad in the corporate environment where BI rules. I am yet to see a similar request for Android though.
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This is fantastic news
woulddie4apple 6th Jul
Listen up all you Android, WP7 and "other" developers: you chose the wrong platform. Quick, drop all your development efforts on those other failed platforms and start making programs for the best platform in the world: iOS. You are cheating yourself out of profits if you don't. YEAH!!!
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Troll
DeRSSS 6th Jul
@woulddie4apple
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RE: iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers
Hasam1991 6th Jul
@woulddie4apple
that's basically what the author said, if you want to make $ go to iOS..
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I'll stick to gaming...
Cylon Centurion 6th Jul
on my PC, where games belong.
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RE: iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers
Hasam1991 6th Jul
@Cylon Centurion
XBOX? Wii?
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RE: iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers
Cylon Centurion 6th Jul
@Hasam1991

I'm not a console fan. For FPS and RTS, there is nothing I enjoy more than kicking an opponent up one wall and down the other with my keyboard and mouse.

I aim a mouse almost every single day, trying to aim using a joystick is pure Hell.
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A game belongs where it is used/played
James Quinn 6th Jul
@Cylon Centurion
PC's, Macs, XBox, PS3, WII, board games, PS3, card games, you name it a game belongs where it is enjoyed.

Pagan jim
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RE: iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers
Rama.NET 6th Jul
@James Quinn
totally agree.
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RE: iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers
snoop0x7b 7th Jul
@Cylon Centurion Clearly these apps aren't for you then... Casual gamers are one of the up and coming and important markets.
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RE: iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers
tonymcs@... 6th Jul
It's like believing all actors are movie stars and make a fortune. Unless you have an addictive game that makes big sales, you are not going to get rich on the fraction of the low, low, low, sale price, that you actually get.

This is apart from the fact that phone games are for the most part trivial and their price reflects that. Angry Birds is just a graphic rewrite of Artillery that I played on a terminal in the 70s.

So yes if you get 100,000 sales than you may make slightly less than that in dollars, it may even defray your costs, but it's not going to make you rich unless everyone buys it.
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Oh come on everyone? There are like
James Quinn 6th Jul
@tonymcs@... 25 million or more iOS devices out there.. I don't think I'd need to sell to everyone to make some good money. After all since you described that Angry Birds is a basic rewrite of a previous 1970's era game what were the development costs? Sounds like a sweet deal for the guys and gals at Angry Birds does it not?

Pagan jim
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It is more like 200 million devices.
Bruizer 6th Jul
@James Quinn

The market is HUGE and growing by 400,000+ units/day.
  • Flagged
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RE: iOS gaming is where the money's at for mobile developers
non-biased 12th Jul
@tonymcs@... The point was not about getting rich, it was which platform and which type of App is most likely to make you money. It was pretty obvious and straight forward, how did you miss it?
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Nope - the money is in B2B apps
011010100010100 7th Jul
If you are only thinking about selling apps direct to consumers, then perhaps that's right. But I would imagine that most app developers make more money from developing apps for companies that then use them either to automate and improve internal productivity, or so generate marketing or sales leads.

The market for iPhone apps is much more than just the number you get from grossing up the latest "we've paid $Xbn to App developers" figure.

Peter
www.hablantia.com

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