Apps are big business. Apple recently announced its 50 billionth download since the App Store launched in July 2008 with US$9 billion paid out to developers in the same period.
With figures like that it's no wonder the Global App Summit in Dubai this month was thronging with developers, designers and entrepreneurs all hoping to crack the creative code to software success.
However, statistics show it takes more than a great idea to succeed in the app market.
According to Feroz Sanaulla, a former executive director of Intel Capital, now a UAE-based entrepreneurship and innovation adviser, on average a developer has 4.6 apps in his stable and out of nearly 10 billion apps sold, the average return per app is $8,700.
"The top 1 per cent of apps receive 50 per cent of downloads. Sixty per cent of apps don't get downloaded at all and more than 90 per cent of downloads come from the top 25 on the app store," he says.
The problem for the app business, it seems, is to get your app noticed and, once noticed, then bought.
But with most apps given away for free, the developers rely on in-app purchases or advertising revenue - both hard to come by if no one's actually downloading the app.
"The invisibility factor out there is huge. You have a very choosy market and yet you are anonymous to them," says Mr Sanaulla.
There are two dominant players in the hardware market: the iOS platform run by Apple on which 56 per cent of apps offered are free, and Android, where 72 per cent of apps are free, industry figures reveal.
The two players account for about 80 per cent of the market with at least five other players, including BlackBerry and Microsoft, fighting over the remaining 20 per cent.
It leaves developers little choice but to create apps for the players with the biggest market share and battle to get noticed.
Tamer Alaa, an Egyptian telecoms engineer, has been developing apps for three years. His latest, shoplog, keeps a diary of the online sites users have visited, allowing them to select their favourites, compare with other sites and share their preferences.
He cites the buying of bridesmaids' dresses as an example of how the app works best; the dresses are perused online and shared with a number of people, showing a number of products over a host of sites.
Mr Alaa says marketing is the top challenge in app development.
"It is the most expensive and exhausting thing about app building," he says. "The most important thing is creating a loyal customer, somebody who is actually using your app, not just opening and closing it. A game is often played in your downtime, a news app will be used in the morning or the evening. But creating stickiness is crucial so you know where you stand compared to the average."
It's big global success stories such as Rovio's Angry Birds - launched in 2009 with more than 50 million downloads last year alone - that keeps fledgling app builders motivated. According to Rovio, on the iPhone alone the game, at its peak, accounted for more than 100 million minutes of viewing per day.
Rovio has refreshed the game with new free themed levels retaining 80 per cent of its players. For the three Finnish students behind the success, Angry Birds has catapulted them to a company valuation of $8.6bn.
But the game was one in a long list of loss-making apps; in fact it was Rovio's 52nd app. It had a losing streak of 51 before its irate avians took the world by storm.
So how can app developers get themselves noticed?
"The big guys will be visible and survive, but there is a difference between survive and thrive and you can thrive in a smaller marketplace," says Mr Sanaulla. "You don't have to be a $100bn company, you can be a very successful $10 million company but the strategy has to be in place. Your war chest should have many tools to get to that point such as a marketing strategy, a media strategy, word of mouth strategy etc. Relying on one guy telling his buddies is no strategy at all."
While being visible and indispensable are important, it seems being lucky is even more so.
business@thenational.ae
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.8-litre%204-cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E190hp%20at%205%2C200rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%20from%201%2C800-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh111%2C195%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
'Morbius'
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona
Rating: 2/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETamer%20Ruggli%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadine%20Labaki%2C%20Fanny%20Ardant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
