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TABLE OF CONTENT
Mobile apps flipping business explained
24 May 2024
TABLE OF CONTENT
1. What is Mobile Apps Flipping?
Just like flipping houses or websites, app flipping is about buying cheap apps, making them better with your skills and ideas, and selling them for a big profit.
It's similar to flipping houses, but you do it with apps instead. And you can earn a LOT of money this way.
Better Returns (ROI) Than Flipping Houses
Imagine buying an overlooked app for much less than it costs to make one from scratch.
You can get apps for just a few hundred dollars instead of spending thousands.
With your creative ideas and maybe some help from freelance developers on sites like Fiverr, you can update the apps with fresher branding, a simpler and easier interface, and a better experience for users.
Or, if you know how to code and develop apps yourself, you could handle it alone and earn a lot of money.
Apps usually sell for 12 to 36 times their monthly profits, so if your app makes even just $1,000 a month, you could sell it for over $30,000.
Consider that you might have paid $1,000 when you first bought the app, and that’s a 2900% return on your investment.
So if you're quick with development or managing projects, you could flip apps MUCH faster than a construction crew can flip a house, and for a MUCH higher return than the 27% average return of flipping a house.
How crazy is that?🤯
2. Inspiration/Success examples
Road to a Million: How My App Exit Funded My Dream
Right after WWDC presentation in June 2020, which introduced the new feature of iOS widgets, Pietro came up with an idea of Social Widgets app: Check stats from social medias right on the home screen via widgets
In October 2020, the app was released, and Pietro began implementing an impressive marketing strategy: cold mailing influencers, actively posting on forums, and more. One day, an influencer posted a video showcasing the app, and it started growing insanely
One influencer after another one y etc, an app gained 50,000 downloads by the end of October. 100k by the end of November.
And in one Day Pietro recieved an email about possible acquisition. Pietro sold the app for a significant profit
For an app to be sellable, it must have a market fit, be at least one year old, and have a monthly recurring revenue of $5,000 and at least 5,000 downloads per month. He encourages those interested in selling their apps to contact him for more information.
Santiago Poli journey with apps
All apps sold on Acquire, without revenue
App for Screenwriters: Sold for $43,500
It’s a screenwriting, and note-taking app, that can turn what you write into a fully formatted screenplay.
IOS app that was designed by the former lead UIUX designer at Vimeo. The app, which previously reached #6 in the top paid productivity app section in the Apple Store, had over 1,100 active users. Sold on Flippa
Flippa page Stats:
- Views: 2,942
- Sold: $43,500
App Stats back in time:
- Paid price: $4,99
- 106 reviews
- The app is 3-years-old and generates over $1,610 in revenue per month. To date, the app has had more than 6,300 paid downloads and is consistently featured by Apple.
3. Market Overview 2030 trends
Insight
💡
Skip this part if you don't have much time (it's super overloaded part with numbers)
The mobile industry is changing to create new ways to make money. Apps will grow faster than games in terms of money spent by customers, with apps growing at 11% each year and games at 4%
What's causing this change? Even if people have less money to spend, they will continue to spend more on mobile apps. Money spent on non-gaming apps per device is expected to increase to $138 per year in the US
Companies will keep creating new types of subscriptions and in-app purchases to make more money. However, changes in privacy laws, other industry rules, and economic issues in big markets like the US and China might slow this growth. Still, we expect the growth to keep up until 2030. After recovering from the market downturn caused by the pandemic and if the economy stabilizes, the growth rate should get closer to what it was before the pandemic, with apps leading this growth.
New Opportunities - Consumers welcome subscriptions and new In-App Purchase Methods in Non-Gaming Apps
Spending per device on non-gaming apps has surged in major markets as consumers grow more accustomed to mobile subscriptions. Additionally, some apps, like TikTok, have generated significant revenue through one-time purchases.
The increase in spending on non-gaming apps has significantly outpaced that of gaming apps in recent years. For instance, spending per iOS device in the United States on non-gaming apps rose by 65%, from $39 in 2020 to $64 in 2022. This is nearly equal to the $65 spent per iOS device on games, which saw a smaller increase of only 9% from $60 in 2020.
Consumers expected to spend over $40 Billion in entertainment Apps by 2030
Entertainment apps are currently the leading category in terms of consumer spending, with popular platforms like TikTok and YouTube setting the pace. TikTok notably raised industry standards by becoming the first app to exceed $1 billion in consumer spending within a single quarter in Q1 2023.
Other leading app genres are also projected to experience robust annual growth of about 12-13% from 2023 to 2030. Notable examples include Tinder in the Social Media - Dating category, Google One in Utilities & Productivity - File Management, and Piccoma in Books & Reference - Comics.
Asia, North America, and Europe lead in consumer spending, but emerging markets experience Quicker Growth
In 2030, Asia, North America, and Europe are projected to account for $266 billion or 92% of the global consumer spending of $288 billion. This represents a slight decrease from the 94% these regions accounted for in 2023, as other regions are expected to grow more quickly.
Central America is forecasted to experience the highest growth in consumer spending through 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.0%. This will be followed by South America, Africa, and the Middle East
By 2030, Asia will represent 70% of all app downloads
Downloads in Asia are expected to increase from 177 billion in 2023 to 245 billion by 2030, showing an average annual growth rate of 4.7%. Asia is home to three of the top five markets globally, with China Mainland, India, and Indonesia ranking first, second, and fifth, respectively. This region's growth is anticipated to exceed that of other major regions such as Europe and North America.
By 2030, South America is projected to surpass North America and become the third largest region in terms of app downloads. The downloads in South America are expected to rise by 37% from 2023 to 2030, achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.6%. This growth will outpace North America's projected increase of 25% or a 3.2% CAGR.
Emerging technologies and AI-driven personalization to change more than just the game
Personalization is a key area that will experience AI-powered evolution in 2024. Long-term user retention is crucial for sustained ROI in the app industry. The emergence of the hybrid casual genre in gaming has shown that strategically incorporating personalization into a game's user experience can significantly increase retention rates and revenue. In 2024, hybrid casual games are expected to surpass the $2.1 billion in revenue they achieved in 2023. Industries like e-commerce and finance should adopt a similar data-centric and AI-driven approach to that of the gaming sector.
Also here is a data about past years:
Sources:
2) Mobile App Market Forecast 2030, data.ai
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