Gameloft CFO calls app development 'an ugly scene'

Duh!

The problem is just that the store is flooded with content. If you see what's being submitted daily, it's just scary.

I think Alexandre is right. It's a tough business.

Maybe if they'd made some decent games that you can get sucked into playing... then, maybe just then, they'll do a bit better. Ripping off other peoples games and complaining about how crappy the market is - is just stupid. They've had some decent titles here and there but many of them feel very half-assed as it is. So why should they be surprised their margin is lower than other big named developers?

While a well-designed app that appeals to a wide audience will often get noticed, niche apps are less likely to make much money without some publicity. I have an iOS app for teachers (Attendance) and a new Mac app (GradeA) in the Mac App Store. Attendance has received a number of favorable reviews and publicity (including Macworld and the Chronicle of Higher Education), but it's never going to come close to earning enough money for me to quit my day job. It's too soon to tell if GradeA will sell well as it was released in March and the best months for teacher apps are August/September and January.

The crucial factors for an app that will make money are obviously a good idea that is well-executed and an app that appeals to a fairly large audience that is either the best app in its area or the only/first app in an area. And there's still some luck involved to get noticed. I agree with the comment that if you want to make a living developing apps, the best way is to be a contractor for hire.

I assume this is all that is left to do right? Sell apps on Craigslist?

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/sys/2398853989.html

if an App is well made it will have no problem getting on the top 25 list, there is a lot of crap app in the app store and developer think just because they made it into the apple store they should be making a lot of money NOPE! make it good and also something people might want and they should have no problem making money.

I agree with the comments made above. I have 7 apps available on the app store at different affordable price points that average ~$300 a month for all sales combined. Sales are slowly going up as I release new apps and learn consumer trends. Spending a lot of time on an app for a niche category will net you 1-2 units sold per day, sometimes none.

Actually I'm making a very good living from app development. Namely, by having people pay me to code apps for them. That's the sure thing, my clients can worry about actually making money from them, that's their problem. I've long since given up trying to make a profit from my own apps, I just do them for the enjoyment and experience at this point.

A valid thought... but how does the mobile platform differ from the desktop platforms? The first to develop apps for any platform are at an advantage (remember monkeyball for iphone?) but once things normalize, I fail to see how developers are any more challenged by mobile platforms than desktop platforms or *gasp* console platforms.

> Of course, some may say that's business, and for the most part they'd be right. But a lot of times the app market is portrayed as a new gold rush, with millions of dollars of revenue available for anyone who releases an app. That's not quite the case, especially a few years into the app scene.

You're confused about what a gold rush is. A gold rush is when people flood a market thinking everybody's going to get rich when only a minority do. There's no contradiction between a minority of app developers getting rich and it being a gold rush, that's exactly what a gold rush *is*. A gold rush is *not* when everybody gets rich.