Mobile health app development reaches saturation
The development of mobile health applications has been 10 years old since Apple launched its Apple App Store, and today it is a massive market of more than 325,000 apps on different platforms , and in which only a few succeed, while many others become zombies, abandoned with hardly anyone having downloaded them.
Despite market saturation, and the impossibility of knowing them all, growth is not only not slowing down but is accelerating . Last year there were 78,000 new apps compared to the previous year, more pronounced in the case of the Google Play Store, which has surpassed its competitor Apple Store, as the main mobile application development services platform. Thus, apps based on Android have increased by 50%, compared to 20% on the Apple platform , according to the consulting firm Research2guidance.
It is evident that supply does not correspond to demand. In 2017, it is estimated that there were 3.7 billion downloads of mobile health applications, which represents an increase of 16%. It is true that the growth rate has accelerated compared to the previous year, which only grew by 7%, but the average number of downloads per application is very low.
Thus, 55% of apps get less than 5,000 downloads per year. Just a tiny 3% of successful publishers (with over $1 million in revenue and over 500 employees) are achieving over one million downloads annually. 62% of developers report digital solutions with less than 1,000 monthly active users and another 21% report less than 10,000 monthly active users.
Mobile App Development: Why Is the Market So Saturated?
There are many reasons that can explain the low usage of most applications. Market saturation is one of them, but it is also influenced by the fact that many are developed without taking into account the needs of the public to which they are directed.
Patients and healthcare professionals often find digital solutions with great design and better intentionality but unnecessary or impractical on a daily basis. For this reason, the idea of a Health Hackathon arose, in which health professionals, patients and developers could co-create digital health solutions. Organized by the communication agency COM Salu d in collaboration with the Association of eHealth Researchers (AIES), the Health Hackathon celebrates its third edition on June 15 and 16 at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research and is the most important in Spanish-speaking .
Development of mobile applications in health: Main trends
According to experts consulted by Research2guidance, diabetes, one of the challenges of the Health Hackathon, continues to offer the best market potential for mHealth solutions in the near future, followed by obesity and depression.
That partly coincides with the interests of application providers. One of the most active in recent years in the development of mobile applications are pharmaceutical companies , which are concentrating on providing digital products and services for medication, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, while hospitals are developing solutions for hospital efficiency.
Instead, mobile app development services companies specialize in areas such as weight management or mental health. Health insurers, the main app providers in the coming years, according to experts, are active above average in the area of well-being and fitness.
As for telehealth companies, they are publishing apps related to connecting with doctors , the area in which the most supply is concentrated, with 30% of the market. They are also active in developments linked to cardiovascular diseases. As for telecommunications companies, whose interest in the mHealth market has decreased, they are focused on offering digital services for hospital efficiency and medication.