Over the past several years, Silicon Valley has been flooded with an overwhelming amount of eager app developers. Since Apple’s launch of the App Store back in 2008, apps have been at the forefront of innovation in the valley. The App Store made launching a product, be it service driven or recreational, much more achievable. Back in 2008, it was a brand new market with seemingly endless possibilities. Unfortunately, the accessibility of that market has lead to an overwhelming amount of competition, where very few come out successful.
The pullback in app downloads is clearly depicted in an article for recode.net, which features statistics from SensorTower. According to the data featured, app downloads have declined by more than 20% over the past year. Even the bigger app publishers (Facebook/Instagram) are feeling the pullback. Very few apps saw an increase in downloads between May of this year and last, of those included Snapchat and Uber.
For so long, developers have been focused on catering to the on-demand market; which was built on a concept of just prices and unparalleled convenience. Since Uber’s launch, coincidentally in 2008 as well, there’s been a plethora of developers attempting to mirror that same success. Uber, an infamous unicorn in the app industry, started out with unheard of Series A funding of $11.5 million. Unfortunately, Uber is one of the few, if not the only, apps to accomplish this.
Today the App Store contains over 2 millions apps, which is quite the bit of competition. With such a stealthy number of applications to choose from, it’s no wonder there’s a shift in downloads. The app craze is over. More often than not, users have already downloaded the apps they’re most interested, and be it for lack of space or desire, they’re not downloading anymore. It’s quite impossible to compete in such a large market that’s seemingly catered to every niche. Though, should you have a concept that hasn’t already been tapped in the app industry, more power to you!
from Mark Cohen http://ift.tt/23atiLv
Mark Cohen NYC 