How Consolidation is Running through the Veins of the Mobile Industry

By: Hillel Fuld (@hilzfuld)

Back in February of last year (2011), I interviewed Patrick Mork, the CMO of GetJar, who ironically is now working at Google as the Marketing Director of mobile apps. Read that interview here.

Among the many smart things Patrick said in that interview, one thing stuck out to me from day one. In question 5, I asked “What does the future hold for independent app stores?” He replied

“In one word, consolidation. There is no room in the market for hundreds of app stores, it is not scalable or  sustainable. Consumers will eventually choose their app store based on exposure and discovery. Only a few app stores will remain and the rest will get swallowed up. In addition, mobile will follow the trends of the Web both in terms of a few dominant players taking over and in terms of openness.

The open model will eventually prevail and closed app stores like Apple’s will have to adapt. It is already starting with open app stores like Getjar surpassing any one provider in terms of downloads.”

Now, a year later, we see this trend come to fruition on a daily basis. Patrick spoke about app store consolidation in his answer. See this list of app stores I compiled a year ago and then think how many app stores you can name. Most of the list is now either extinct or irrelevant.

However, consolidation is not only happening in the app store space, it is happening throughout the entire mobile industry. Operating systems are dying daily and the market is becoming a two, max three horse race.

One more part of the mobile industry that is being affected by ongoing consolidation is of course app monetization. Well, this does make sense. With the long and complex process of developing a killer mobile app, developers lack both the patience and knowledge required to choose the best monetization method for their app.

That choice depends on so many factors, such as platform, category, location, user-base, and many more, that developers are now looking to work with one company, one SDK integration, that will give them the flexibility they need to monetize their mobile app most effectively.

That is what inneractive set out to provide. Our SDK has a single line of code, which won’t waste the valuable time of the developer on integration, and it includes various forms and verticals of app monetization. These include display ads, full support for rich media ads, which engage the user on a whole new level and generate substantially more revenue, as well as several others.

The best part about our SDK is that it is dynamic. What does that mean? It means new monetization verticals are added regularly. In the very near future, inneractive developers will also be able to include in-app purchases, such as virtual currency, as well an in-app search bar, which will help generate even more revenue.

The bottom line is this. Consolidation is where this exploding market is going. There is just no room for so many players and inneractive’s SDK is that “All-in-One” solution that developers need.

To sign up as an inneractive developer and download the cross-platform monetization SDK, click here!

Please share your thoughts in the comments or on Twitter, Google+, or Facebook where we are always listening.
In addition, to sign up with inneractive and start monetizing your free apps now, click here.

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