Whatever else you might say about mobile app stores, they have dramatically changed mobile software distribution patterns, a study by Vision Mobile, sponsored by Telefonica, has found. In fact, market channels that were once mainstream, pre-2008, today represent only a small part of the distribution channel for mobile apps.
Operator portals and on-device pre-loading through original equipment manufacturer or operator deals is the primary channel to market for fewer than five percent of mobile developers surveyed.
These days, developers resort to either ‘native’ app stores, or to direct download from their own websites.
The next five years will completely remap the mobile industry landscape, the study suggests. Research in Motion and Apple will move into the ranks of the top five channels, displacing the incumbents. The operating system landscape will consolidate into two tiers; the top-end dominated by Apple and followed by Android. In the feature phone segment, Android and BREW will be significant, the study found.
Mobile developers will account for most of the innovation on mobile devices, and will increasingly have the ability to act independently from the handset and network operators on the distribution front.
App stores also have reduced the average time-to-shelf by two thirds: from 68 days across traditional channels, to 22 days via an app store, according to the study.
App stores also have reduced the average time-to-payment by more than half; from 82 days across traditional channels, to 36 days via an app store. On average, it takes 55 days to get paid when using an operator channel, or 168 days when on-device pre-loading is the channel.
Also, a classic Pareto distribution seems to be building. There is little use or availability of app stores outside the Apple and Android platforms. Only five percent of Java and just over 10 percent of Windows Phone espondents reported using an app store as a primary distribution channel, the study has found.
In fact, the bigger challenge these days is marketing. The key challenge reported by mobile developers is the
lack of effective ways to increase application exposure and discovery. In other words, apps have to be discovered to be downloaded or paid for, and it incresingly is important to “stand out from the crowd.”
That appears to explain why half of respondents are willing to pay for premium app store placement.
The business model also remains an issue. Only five percent of respondents reported very good revenues that are above their expectations. Moreover, nearly 60 percent of iPhone respondents said they had not reached their revenue targets.
http://www.visionmobile.com/research.php#devecon
