What is the ROI (Return of Investment) one can expect from an iPhone App? The easiest way to make market research on an iPhone app idea is…To use the App Store in your iPhone or iPod Touch and search for similar applications in the same niche market.
Search for relevant keywords, determine which iPhone Apps out there are your main competitors and consider their strengths and weaknesses:
- What is the average price tag? (free, 0.99, 3.99…?)
- What is the average rating?
- Should I match their feature set with my app?
- Why is my app different?
- How can I make my app “better” then the others? (is it better targeted to the niche? does it work better? does it provide a better user experience? does it add key features missing in others? does it cost less?)
- Are people willing to pay more to get a better app in this market niche?
This way, you get to determine:
- The minimum feature set your custom iPhone native app needs in order to be competitive
- The price range in which you can propose your app
Based on the popularity of the other apps (rating, number of reviews) you can get an idea of how many people could be interested. Then consider the time-span in which you want or need your invested money back: based on the profit margin Apple will get you (70% of the price to the public), you can make a ballpark figure of optimistic and pessimistic sales volumes (10/month, 50/month, 100/month?). Then you can work backwards to determine what budget makes sense to invest in your idea.
Keep in mind that there’s no data on what people searches for on the App Store, so you may want to use Google AdWords Keyword Tool to get an idea of the search volume for something like: “your idea here” iPhone App. In fact, an empty market niche for a specific app does not necessarily mean a lack of interest in that topic or business. Generalist iPhone Apps do not necessarily sell more then business or profession-specific, tailored applications. Since iPhone Apps cost so little, people are willing to buy in order to “try out” a few Apps in their field of interest, but in the long run the more targeted applications with a better user experience are more likely to be successful than general purpose apps.