Ask HN: Can you make decent money from niche mobile apps?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4144182

by Nick5a1 • 14 years ago

7 10 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hello. I'm evaluating a few startup ideas and some of them naturally lend themselves to mobile apps. Because the market is not used to paying by subscription for standalone mobile apps, or paying more than a couple dollars for an app, is it possible to make decent money from niche mobile apps, or do you need to target massmarket? Any opinions, examples, insights and advice would be greatly appreciated.

tedmiston• 14 years ago

I feel this is too open for anyone to answer definitively, and that a good answer varies greatly by the target audience and market.

How much is "decent money"? Can a sole developer make enough money to make his hours worthwhile? (I wish... not so sure.)

What money making methods are you open to: a cost for the app itself, a service subscription, in-app purchases, ads (ad networks?), etc.?

On a mobile app by itself, or as part of a bigger brand / platform?

How _niche_? What is your market? How large is your target audience? Does your target audience spend money on apps? How do they spend it? What conversion rate can you expect?

...

Nick5a13• 14 years ago

Hi Ted,

I'm not looking for a definitive answer, I'm looking for examples and general input, observations or advice.

I've specified that I'm talking about standalone mobile apps, so I'm not talking about a mobile app that exists in addition to a webapp. I also said that users are only accustomed to paying a one-off payment of a dollar or two to buy the app. Users are not accustomed to in-app subscriptions (for standalone mobile apps).

I'm looking at these apps in the context of a startup, so I guess the minimum amount of money would be a decent annual salary for one or two people, after any expenses.

I'm open to any money making method that users are generally open to, so I think for a standalone mobile app that leaves cost for the app itself and advertising.

As to how niche, I'm asking this question in the general sense, not in relation to a specific example. Any examples from readers would be great.

ISeemToBeAVerb• 14 years ago

Yes, of course you can. But like tedmiston said, your question is too general to answer in any useful way.

However, I will say this; from what I've seen, you're more likely to succeed with a mobile-based product aimed at a business niche. Businesses are more willing to pay larger sums (or subscriptions) for solutions, whereas consumers tend to place less overall value on any one app.

The only way to get any definitive answers is to test within the market you're aiming for.

Mz2• 14 years ago

It seems to me that with your stated criteria, the answer is either "probably not" or "only if you keep churning out new ones". I say that based on your proposed math: one time small payment in a small market. Unless you can get recurring income, increase the market size or keep making new niche apps, that scenario seriously limits the potential income.

Nick5a13• 14 years ago

I was afraid of this. I was wondering if there was something I was missing. This begs the question, why then are there so many apps if the possibility of making a lot of money from them is remote?

Mz2• 14 years ago

I don't know. Maybe some folks keep churning out new ones. Some folks also aren't making much. And some folks do them asside projects and aren't in it for the money per se, though they probably appreciate getting a few extra bucks.

coryl• 14 years ago

Yes, you can make money off apps. Niche, targetted apps at certain segments is probably the easiest way (as opposed to mass market products like Angry Birds, Instagram, etc.)

I started app development 6 months ago and had to learn programming from scratch. I generate probably the same salary I'd make in a business/marketing job, except my app income is passive income so I have free time to work on new projects, or use as leisure.

Nick5a13• 14 years ago

Very interesting. Could you share how many apps you have bringing in money, how they are priced, and provide some category rankings?

jfoster• 14 years ago

Of course you can, but as with every venture, nothing's guaranteed. Just look at the Android app store to get some idea of this. The download volume and price is shown. Multiply them together, take out Googl's cut, and what you get is the revenue that the app has made over it's lifetime.

Will every niche make substantial money? Doubtful.

saket123• 14 years ago

The answer to this question really depends on platforms you are targeting and niche with respect to each of them. For example if you can make a tether app for iPhone without requiring a root and got approved by app store you can make loads of money. At the same time if you make something like that for android, you might end up disappointed.

Ask HN: Can you make decent money from niche mobile apps?

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