iPhone & Android App Stores Lifting the Developer Middle Class

Apple and Google’s mobile platforms are making billions of dollars for developers. For instance, Apple paid developers nearly $1.5 billion through its App Store in the first two quarters of 2012, according to mobile analyst Flurry. About 32% of the combined money flowing into Android’s Google Play store and the App Store went to developers of the top 100 ranked apps. That might seem like a large percentage, but in 2010 it was 55%. In fact, middle-class developers – those who publish the bulk of the 600,000 apps available in the Google’s and Apple’s app stores – are making a comeback.