Most mobile developers bother whether their applications would succeed to make enough money or not. If an app fails to bring sufficient revenue, its survival is going to be difficult. The success of an app is case-specific and there are several factors that determine it. It may be the ability of an app to run on one or more than one platform. It may be the availability of the app to particular country or to the entire world. It may also be a particular business model (free, freemium, subscription, in-app purchase, one time purchase, etc.) through which the app brings in the most revenues. So app revenues vary by app platform, country, business model, category and more.
North American mobile application developers are making more money
North American mobile development firms are earning 30% more revenue than their counterparts in Europe. Of course, European developers are generating 47% more revenue than Asia based developers, but North Americans are still in the driving seat. The higher rate of revenue for NA is explainable. It is because of higher consumer spending. Higher penetration of iOS is also responsible for making more money. Reports have cleared it now that iOS is still generating more revenues than other mobile platforms.
iOS monetizes better than iOS, BlackBerry and Windows.
Android is dominating when it comes to the number of mobile devices running this OS. But it does not lead for making more money. iOS apps continue to generate 30% more revenues per month than Android apps. Windows Phone is also catching up with Android and appears to be doing a little better.
The increasing credibility of Windows Phone is encouraging more mobile developers to build for this platform.
Multi-platform apps
Apps that run on more than one platform earn more. There are reports that show a big gap between developers using 6+ platforms and those using 5 or fewer platforms. Apps that are available for 6+ platforms are generating about 75% more revenues. However, a few developers have made available their applications on 6 mobile platforms, and most are limited to one or two.
Lucrative revenue models
We have 10 different revenue models that are making money. The top-grossing of them are device royalties and distribution licensing fees but are quite rare among mobile developers because of their high barriers to entry. A subscription based model is considered most lucrative but it also implies a substantial need of licensing, and maintaining quality content. If developers fall to do so, they will quickly lose the engagement of users. In-app purchase has been a successful model, generating 34% more than Freemium model.
