Mobile app development is growing, can enterprises keep up?

Gartner predicts that by the end of 2017, market demand for mobile app development services will grow at least five times faster than internal IT organizations’ capacity to deliver them.

According to The 2015 U.S. Mobile App Report, mobile devices are consuming 60 per cent of Internet usage in the U.S. Also, the average mobile phone user spends almost 23 days per year using a mobile phone!

Fun facts in the history of mobile

The world’s first mobile phone call was made on April 3, 1973. In addition to being a communication device, games were a famous application installed on mobile phones. The most famous mobile game, Snake, first appeared in 1997 on the Nokia 6610.

Today, usage patterns within the mobile apps segment are rapidly changing. According to a 2014 survey, mobile growth is moving into media. These numbers changed in 2015, where gaming decreases by 50 per cent, losing ground to other usage types. But statistics say that mobile apps are overshadowing mobile browsing activities. 

What does this mean?  

Usage patterns are changing, which opens the door for innovative usage scenarios. Mobile apps for the enterprise is top on the list.

Approximately half of the 1.5 million published mobile apps are enterprise oriented. There will be a huge opportunity for mobile app developers to serve the enterprise market. It has been predicted that in 2017, big enterprises are expected to have their own app development platform.

Enterprise apps are a financially rewarding segment for developers as per a survey which showed that 43 per cent of developers are targeting enterprise apps, versus only 19 per cent of developers targeting consumer apps that are making the same income of $10,000/month.

The mobile app industry is changing the world, including areas like mobile commerce, mobile advertising, mobile payments and banking.

The future of mobile isn’t the hardware device

As mobile usage grows, employees expect mobile access to enterprise applications. Users should be able to access it on smartphones and tablets. In 2016 (and the years to come) enterprises are going to attract developers to fulfill the demand of mobile apps. Gartner says that 25 per cent of enterprises will have an enterprise app store by 2017.

The mobile app industry is ready for development, and innovative developers are expected to take part and build the next generation of enterprise apps.

There are almost two billion smartphone users around the world and it is likely that 2017 will be more opportune, for entrepreneurs and consumers alike.