Like Fax But Muuuuuuch Bigger!
This is a single insight from This Week in Apps #90 - Everything's Big!. Check out the full article for more insights.
Last week I raised a few eyebrows by showing how much money apps used to send and receive faxes make. It wasn't even the revenue but also the massive year-over-year growth.
Get ready to be surprised again!
This week I bring you a category that's more attractive and necessary but still very similar. And, it makes more than 3x the revenue.
No, it's not solitaire. It's scanners.
There are thousands of apps that turn your phone's camera into a document scanner. A useful tool you don't really think about until you need it.
Using Explorer, I focused on document scanner apps that make more than $10,000 of net revenue per month in the U.S., which got me down to 47 apps. That's right, more than 47 different apps make more than a quarter-million dollars every year, each! And that's net revenue -- after giving Apple and Google their fee.
Again, if you think all the opportunities are gone, you're not looking hard enough. Think I should write a guide about how to find opportunities? Let me know
Let's have a look at the numbers because they're impressive.
In January of 2020, the group earned $2.7 million in net revenue in the U.S., according to our App Intelligence. It ended 2020 at $4.1 million in net revenue in the U.S. That's a 52% increase in 2020. Fast forward to November of 2021, the group earned $7.4 million. This is net revenue and only the U.S. an increase of 68% in 2021.
Wow!
In my experience, these apps are pretty aggressive with their in-app purchases, and they're pretty good at locking things people who are willing to pay need. I'm sure some go beyond that and apply shady tactics because that's pretty normal in utilities these days.
But... that's a lot of money for taking pictures.
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All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.
