Understanding the Kids App Market

iLearn II Study

• Sample: 200 apps in educational category• 100 are top-selling paid apps • Analysis based on –

– Age– Price– Subject/skill-set– School usage– Branding

Basic Numbers

• 39% of children 2-4 years old have touch screen device

• 52% of children 5-8 years old have touch screen device

• 25%+ of parents have downloaded an app for their child

App Numbers

• The percentage of apps for children has risen in every category, accompanied by decrease in apps for adults

• 80%+ of apps in the education category target children

• In 2009, 47% of top selling apps targeted preschool or elementary aged children

• In 2012, 72% target that age group• Apps for kids 11-14 years old saw 14% increase

App Numbers

Kids Apps Top the Charts

• 60% of the 25 top-selling apps target toddler/preschool children

• Only 20% of the overall sample targets 6-11 years old– But 50% of top sellers target this age group

Kids Apps Top the Charts

The Discovery Problem

• There 500,000 apps in Apple’s App Store• 300,000 in Android market• “You can spend a lot of time creating an

app, only to find out that the marketing is just as hard as the development.” – Lorraine Akkeman (Moms with Apps).

Marketing

• The 4 P’s– Product– Price– Promotion– Place

• Cross promotion – Think of developers as colleagues, not

competitors

Price• Average price has risen by $1

2009 – $1.13

2011 – $2.14

• Kids apps are $1 less than Apps for adults

Price• Most kids apps priced $0.99 or $1.99

• iLearn II Suggestion:

Developers should not default to lowest price

Subject & Skill-set

• Most popular: General early learning• Issue: Kids most in need of early learning

help don’t have access to apps

Subject & Skill-set

Subject & Skill-set

• STEM apps are popular– Science– Technology– Engineering– Math

• Very few literacy apps– May be underserved market

School Usage

• 14% of apps mentioned school usage• Types

– Marketed to consumer– Study aids, test prep– Aligned to standards

• Interesting trend by age

School Usage

Branding

• Of entire sample, only 2 apps based on mainstream branded characters

**Only looking at Education category, NOT Games

Device

• 46 apps in top charts on both devices– Exploiting true functionality of each device?

• More iPad apps for toddler/preschool age group than iPhone– Opposite true for kids 6-11 years old

Device

Prices by Device

• Price range –– iPad $0.99 to $4.99– iPhone $0.99 to $19.99

• Average price – – iPad $2.07– iPhone $2.76

Emerging Opportunities• Apps for 6-11 aged children

– 20% overall sample targeted this group– 50% top-sellers targeted this group– Same trend for preschoolers in 2009 study

• Although kids app prices up by $1, it’s still less than those for adults

• Very few apps target beyond general early learning