1. HOW MUCH MONEY CAN AN
APP MAKE IN 2020
How Much Money Can An App
Actually Earn?
In the past decade, the proliferation of mobile apps has permeated
almost every sphere of our modern-day lives. From hailing a ride to
keeping a count of our daily show to make money creating apps for
android uses to even playing high-end games, there’s an app for
almost everything and anything these days.

2. But despite their popularity, a lot of business owners and
organizations experience a lot of ambiguity before investing in
developing an app. This is because they often don’t know just much
earning potential does an app generally has and whether that potential
could offset not just the cost of development invested in the business
but also return some great returns in terms of profits as well.
Well, apps have been earning money like there’s no tomorrow in the
past couple of years, with figures something shooting up to millions of
dollars in revenue on a daily or weekly basis.
The amount of how much money can an app makes varies from niche
to niche and if you’re looking to boost your business in the digital
world, then the mobile app industry is the ideal market for you to tap.
By 2020, estimated numbers suggest that the global app revenue will
reach a whopping $582 billion.

3. This massive revenue generation is a byproduct of the rise in mobile
phone usage. According to Oberlo, 52.2% of all global traffic came
from mobile phones. For businesses, this is a gold-mine that can result
in massive growth, and industry leaders have already started to use
this platform to realize a higher return on investment.

4. Moreover, according to SensorTower, the top-100 app development
firms or publishers generated an average of $130 million in Q1 2019,
this figure has risen at a CAGR of 31% since 2014.

5. But since there is no set average for how much revenue an app can
generate, you will need to understand how different niches are
performing within the app ecosystem to understand just how much
exactly the expected returns on your targeted niche will be.
You have to decide both the market you will target and the business
model your app will implement.
To make this an easier process, we’re discussing some of the most
trending business models and applications that are generating massive
revenue. Let’s dive deeper into these niches for a better understanding
of the app development world.
Which Platforms Are Performing The
Best In Terms Of Revenue Generation?
How much money your application makes depends a lot on the
platform you choose to get it developed on. Android has the largest
market share in the mobile industry with 75.82%, compared to iOS’
22.9%, making the former the obvious platform dominating app
revenues in the current environment.
According to SensorTower, between 2018 and 2023, the expected
CAGR of user spending on these stores is 16.8%. In 2020, the

6. expected user expenditure for both Google Play and iOS app store is
projected to be $123 Billion, with the Google Play app store leading
the race at $78 Billion.
For mobile applications, these platforms provide the answer to the
question every business owner asks when getting their app developed.
“How much money can an app make?”
While there is no definite answer to this exact query, the current
projections indicate that the future for mobile apps is on the right
trajectory, and it seems that the growth rate is only going to increase
in 2020.

7. Once you’ve chosen a platform and made that decision, how you
monetize your application to make millions or even billions is an
important strategic decision. For this, we’ve chosen three of the most
used revenue models across the industry that you can choose based on
your niche.
Revenue Models To Earn Money With
Mobile Applications:
One-Time Payment (Premium Apps):
Premium mobile applications charge a one-time download fee on the
Google play store on the iOS app store from its users. While there is a
general belief that premium apps don’t make money because users
don’t want to spend, that’s actually untrue. In 2017, Paid apps
accounted for nearly $250 Billion in revenue.
Education apps are a well-performing category within the paid apps
category. Take, for example, WolframAlpha, who uses its
computational intelligence to come up with answers for mathematical
queries and chemistry-related problems.

8. In just October of 2019, WolframAlpha made $20,000 in revenue
through downloads. Standing at 1,000,000+ downloads on Play store
alone, the application is a powerhouse in the educational category.
1) In-App Purchases (Freemium Apps):
In-App purchases are a great way to generate revenue through
applications. It allows users to download the application and use its
features for free while putting up a paywall on some premium
features.
One such application that uses In-app purchases for revenue
generation is Fortnite. In May 2019, Fortnite made $203 million in
revenue, even though the game remains free to play for users.
2) Subscription Model (Recurring Payments):
The subscription model is well known in the industry with
applications from services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon being
popular operators in this niche.
It requires customers to pay a recurring fee for access to the
application’s services.
In this category, Netflix stands as a giant with $5.2 Billion in
revenue as of the third quarter of 2019. Similar applications in this

9. category include Pandora, the music streaming application that uses a
similar subscription model.
As of September 2019, Pandora’s revenue stood at a staggering $447
million, nearly 30 million more than their standing in September of
2018.
This trend showcases the power mobile applications have in 2020 and
how they can help business owners earn money through the digital
landscape.
Which Type Of Apps Have The
Potential To Make Money In 2020?
Gaming Applications are the largest contributors to global app
revenue. The 2018 iOS App Store mobile app revenue exceeded the
$33 Billion mark, while Google Play revenue for games stood at $21.5
Billion.
The total growth of revenue in the first half of 2019 was 11.3%, with a
total of$29.6 Billion. The advances in gaming technology like better
graphics, control, and Gameplay, and the rise of e-sports are seen as
some of the major contributing factors for this boom in the mobile
games industry.

10. According to MediaKix, 56% of mobile gamers play games more than
10 times a week, showcasing the addictive nature of this mobile-based
entertainment avenue.
Source: mediakix.com
Gaming Applications accounted for 77% of the total app revenue in
2018, with the gross mobile game revenue standing at $54.7 Billion.
The AR-based game “Pokemon Go” grossed over $3 billion in
revenue in 2019, while Clash of Clans’ monthly revenue rose to reach
$22 million in October 2019.

11. On the other hand, E-commerce mobile apps have also been on the
rise for a long time, and if existing data is any indicator, the rise is not
going to slow down any time soon. The growing tendency among the
younger demographic to buy online has contributed significantly to
the rise of this sector in apps. By 2021, experts have estimated that the
US mobile commerce sales will amount to more than $3 Trillion.
This is one of the niches that has given businesses the ability to
become globally recognized brands. In order to cash in on this market,
mobile applications require a payment gateway integration within
applications, which allows them to sell products and merchandise on
their mobile apps.

12. By 2021, over 2.14 billion people across the globe are expected to by
services or products online, which provides businesses with a huge
audience to target.
The Internet of Things is also being primed as the next big thing in the
area of modern mobile application development. According
to Techjury, there are expected to be roughly 64 billion IoT devices
worldwide by 2025. By 2020, the market will value at around $2.48
Trillion, expected to grow even more by 2025 to reach an estimated
$16 Trillion.
Just as the numbers suggest, mobile applications targeting this
industry can expect a huge return on investment. In 2020, the market
competition in this niche is quite low making this an excellent time to
tap into this market and extract the benefits by capitalizing on the
first-mover advantage.
Another vertical that app developers and businesses have to keep in
mind is Smart TVs and Smart Watches, as they can also churn out a
huge amount of revenue in upcoming times.
According to Adweek, 70 million homes in the US are connected to
Smart TVs, which is allowing applications to make more money and
expand their user base through diversifying.

13. Companies like YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon are already making
way onto these platforms with their custom applications designed for
these platforms.
These applications are already functioning on most video game
consoles as well, providing convenience by making sure that their
apps are discoverable across multiple platforms.
What Does The Future Of App
Development Look Like?
In terms of opportunities, the mobile app market has a lot of potentials
that are yet to be tapped.
The final quarter of 2019 showcased this potential with an estimated
consumer expenditure of $21.9 Billion on apps across Appstore and
Google Play store, with a 22.9% increase from last year.
These figures suggest that the year 2020 is going to be huge for
mobile apps.
The question we discussed earlier how much money apps can make,
might not have a definite answer but through these stats and figures,
you can definitely reach a ballpark figure.

14. If all the considerations are identified by a business, apps can make a
lot of money, especially in the developing world, which is a market
where demand is still sky-rocketing.
Tekrevol’s mission has always been to help businesses grow with the
help of our mobile app development expertise. If you’re stuck
wondering how much investment you would need to get your business
booming in the digital market, we’ve come up with an app
calculator that can give you an estimated price for your product.
Without having to deal with a human counter-part, you can get a quote
and compare it to the potential earnings that mobile apps have in the
modern world. Do you have an idea that we can help with?