10 facts and 1 manifesto to keep mobile app developers motivated in 2015

New Year’s resolutions are so last year, (not to mention hard to keep).

We’ve all been there. We give ourselves a great number of reasons to try harder, highlight areas of business that deserve our renewed focus, and commit to specific (albeit sometimes intangible) goals. And it actually works for a month or so — until excuses become more frequent and negotiations with our inner-selves creep in.

Let’s not do that this year.

375 mobile developers with over 900 million MAU
told us what’s working in mobile marketing automation

Instead, let’s recognize that life, and business, are moving targets. Priorities change, and we get busy. Rather than dwell in the pressure of short-lived resolutions, we offer you 10 indisputable facts and our full-strength Manifesto — a collection of mantras and mottos to keep us feeling inspired all year long (without any of the guilt).

It’s a great time to be a mobile app developer. Here’s the data to prove it:

1. Opportunity awaits. Mobile devices see use from 5.2 billion people. Thirty percent of them are using smartphones — that’s 1.6 billion. This is straight from Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report, 2014.
2. According to the GSMA’s latest study, “Smartphone forecasts and assumptions, 2007-2020,” by 2020, the world will have 6 billion smartphone connections. That’s just 5 years from now.
3. In 2015, emerging markets such as India, China, Indonesia and Brazil will overtake developed nations in smartphone and wider technology growth — representing serious growth potential beyond developed markets.
4. Mobile app revenues from app stores worldwide are projected to reach $45.4 billion in 2015 and expected to grow to $76.52 billion in 2017, based on forecasts from Statista.
5. The number of free mobile app downloads worldwide in 2015 will be 167.05 billion and grow to 211.31 billion free downloaded apps in 2016, predicts Statista.
6. Tablet owners spend 13 percent longer in apps and open apps 11 percent more frequently on these larger devices.  Additionally, users of phablet-sized phones return to a mobile app 38 percent more often and stay in-app 10 percent longer than owners of smaller mobile screens.  Analytics firm Localytics, says so.
7. In October, Comscore reported that 52 percent of the time consumers spent online occurred within smartphone and tablet apps.
8. Mobile is growing faster than all other digital advertising formats in the U.S, according to new data from BI Intelligence.
9. BI Intelligence also finds that mobile ad spend will top nearly $42 billion in 2018, rising by a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43 percent from 2013.
10. In-app ads perform much better than mobile web ads! Measurement company Medialets found that in-app click-through rates averaged .56 percent globally compared to .23 percent for mobile web ads during the first half of the year.

In addition to the truly inspiring facts and figures, the Leadbolt team collected wisdom from app developers across the globe to bring you a Manifesto that will fuel your drive and cheer you on every step of the way for a prosperous and innovative new year.

App developers, if you’re looking for inspiration, the signs are all around you.  The facts speak for themselves, and the mobile industry is moving at lightning speed and only getting stronger.  2015 is indeed a great time to be a mobile app developer.

Dale Carr is the founder and CEO of Leadbolt, the mobile marketing platform. Ernst & Young named Carr its 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year for Technology in Australia.