Apps4All, a Russian community of app-developers and enthusiasts of mobile technology, reports on the state of mobile development in Russia. However, although we’ve inadvertently neglected to do a post on this up to this point, the results are still worth reporting and indicative of the state of mobile-development in Russia. In order to assess the state of the mobile market, Apps4All and the Analytical Center “Video International” surveyed more than 150 Russian companies.
Most of the companies surveyed have been in existence and only 14% were in existence in 2007. Even in 2010, 2 years prior to the survey, only 42% of the companies were around. If their findings match the larger Russian ecosystem, and it’s a relatively small sample size, it indicates that the mobile-development market is incredibly young.
According to the survey, 74% of companies develop mobile apps for themselves and 46% report that they outsource. Companies which develop mobile apps predominantly focus on iOS and Android: 85% of develops work with iOS and 76% develop for Android. From there, there is an enormous drop-off to 3rd place, which is occupied by Windows Phone at 26%.
Companies do not tend to be particularly larger, either, as the survey found that 57% have 8 or fewer employees. However, 12% of companies surveyed reported have greater than 50 employees and half of those reported having greater than 100. They’re not common, but the survey shows that there are large mobile-development firms in Russia.
Nearly half of the companies surveyed, 48% to be exact, were based in Moscow. The organizers of the survey also found that roughly 75% of the companies maintain branches and that the most popular locations in this category are Moscow, London, and St. Petersburg. Of the more than 400 developers who were surveyed, 45% come from Moscow and St. Petersburg, with the rest hailing from other parts of Russia or the former Soviet Union.
In terms of the apps themselves, the most popular category is mobile games, with 48% of the companies producing them. Entertainment checks in at 34% in the second spot and business comes in third with 32%. Rounding out the top 10 are education, books, lifestyle, instruments, travel, social networks, and health/sports.
