If you’re an app-maker looking to rake in the money, you’re better off creating apps for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus than you are for smaller-screened phones, according to a new study.
Analysts at IHS claim that the larger screen size of the iPhone 6 family devices correlate with higher engagement in the form of increased minutes of app usage — in turn leading to more revenue through in-app purchases and advertising.
While the larger screen size = higher engagement meme might be true in the case of Apple, however, IHS also points out that its not a universal rule, since historically app revenues generated per active iPhone are more than 4x that of Android, despite the fact that until recently iPhones had the smaller screens.
“Analysis of the data clearly shows the positive impact larger screens are having on the industry,” says Chris Hill, senior VP of marketing at Mobidia. “For instance, users spent significantly more time in streaming video apps like HBO Go, Netflix and YouTube when accessing them from phones with large screens. We anticipate this trend will continue with Apple’s new larger screen iPhones.”
Of course, the report doesn’t speculate too much on the correlation versus causation argument. Does the bigger screen size promote engagement, which makes it tougher for people to put down apps when they start using them? Or are the people who rushed out to buy the iPhone 6 Plus the kind of engaged customers who were already spending much longer than average using apps?
Given the iPhone’s historical advantage, my money is on the latter, but from the perspective of devs it’s a moot point: what matters is that you keep focusing on building for users of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Source: Digitises
