Distimo's Vincent Hoogsteder on the battle for the… (2013)

Key insights

7 takeaways

01
The mobile application market is increasingly difficult for new developers to enter, as securing significant download volumes and revenue on dominant iOS and Android platforms becomes more challenging.
02
The industry's most critical trend is the competitive battle for the third-place mobile OS position, currently contested by BlackBerry 10, Windows 8, Amazon, and Firefox OS.
03
BlackBerry maintains a competitive edge in the race for third place due to an established, loyal developer base that has a history of generating consistent revenue.
04
Microsoft is actively attempting to capture market share by aggressively incentivizing developer adoption for the Windows 8 platform.
05
Future developer success will depend on identifying platforms with the most favorable monetization environments rather than relying exclusively on the platforms with the largest user bases.
06
Market fragmentation is driving a strategic shift where developers must diversify their platform reach to improve overall profitability.
07
Amazon is a top-tier competitor in the gaming sector, with data showing that developers often achieve higher monetization rates on the Amazon Appstore than on the standard Google Play store.

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Transcript

so hi I'm Vincent I'm co-founder of diso uh we do analytics for app developers across all the different app stores uh so we provide Insight in your own performance in the full market and also competitive Insight in what your competitors doing in downloads and revenues on a daily basis um what's interesting for us that as a company especially at this conference uh last week actually we did a report on um that it's getting harder and harder for new Publishers new apps to gain Traction in the stores in terms of download and revenue volumes so a lot of developers are sort of looking for the third platform IOS and Android that's a told story but who's going to be number three this year uh we have the guys from Blackberry with the Blackberry 10 and we know from our uh relationships with the developers that there's a huge loyal uh Blackberry building developer based still that made good money in the old sort of way uh and are ready to jump on uh we have Windows Windows 8 Microsoft pushing that really hard with a lot of developer attention uh we have this year Amazon where we see at least and also in

the gaming section A lot of developers that monetize better on the Amazon App sot for Android than they do for Google Play uh and now we even have Firefox jumping in with the HML 5 so it's it's a battle for number three I guess this year and that's going to be an interesting one

Summary

The mobile application market is currently defined by a significant barrier to entry, as new publishers and developers face increasing difficulty in securing traction regarding download volumes and revenue generation. While iOS and Android maintain their dominance as the primary platforms, the industry is shifting its focus toward the competitive battle for the third-place position. This race involves several key contenders, including BlackBerry 10, Windows 8, Amazon, and the emerging HTML5-based Firefox OS.

BlackBerry retains a distinct advantage through its established, loyal developer base that has historically generated consistent revenue, positioning them to potentially transition successfully to the new platform. Simultaneously, Microsoft is aggressively incentivizing developer adoption for Windows 8. Amazon has emerged as a particularly strong competitor in the gaming sector, where data indicates that many developers achieve superior monetization rates on the Amazon Appstore compared to the standard Google Play store.

These insights are derived from comprehensive market intelligence tracking individual app performance, download metrics, and revenue data across all major app stores. As the ecosystem matures, the struggle for the third-place spot remains the most critical trend for developers seeking to diversify their reach and improve profitability. The ongoing fragmentation of the market suggests that success for developers will increasingly depend on identifying which platforms offer the most favorable monetization environments rather than relying solely on the largest user bases.