In brief
Mobile app development offered young entrepreneurs a relatively accessible route to starting a business. The survey discussed in this 2016 article found that more than half of respondents were companies founded within three years by people under 30; businesses focused either on client projects or on developing their own app products.
Smartphones have become an indispensable part of everyday life, and the enormous variety of mobile apps deserves much of the credit. From instant messaging and social networking to dining guides and photo sharing, these apps have enriched the user experience. Many popular apps already have more than one million users in Hong Kong, making them a rising star in the information technology industry. Smartphone shipments in mainland China can reach 90 million units per quarter, suggesting vast business opportunities. Is Hong Kong’s industry ready to open the door to the mainland’s mobile app market?
The first survey of Hong Kong’s mobile app industry examined how businesses in the sector operated. It found that more than half of the companies surveyed had been established for no more than three years and were founded by a new generation of entrepreneurs under 30. Youth has become a defining characteristic of the local smartphone app industry.
Dr 吳瀚, Senior Consultant in the Hong Kong Productivity Council’s Corporate Innovation Division, believes that the mobile app industry has relatively low barriers to entry, with upfront investment often lower than that required for a physical shop. In particular, increasingly mature cloud services have given mobile app development a substantial boost. Developers do not need to invest heavily in IT infrastructure such as servers, testing systems and data management. The comparatively low risk makes it easier for young people to fulfil their entrepreneurial ambitions.
The survey found that 90% of the companies surveyed were small and medium-sized enterprises with 50 or fewer employees. Although these businesses were generally small, nearly 40% reported annual revenue of HK$1 million to HK$5 million. Hong Kong companies also won the grand prize in both of the previous two editions of the Asia Smartphone App Contest, demonstrating that the technical capabilities of Hong Kong’s industry compare favourably with those of its peers.
According to Dr 吳, Hong Kong’s mobile app development companies fall broadly into two categories. One focuses on developing apps for clients, which approximately 41% of the companies surveyed identified as their most important source of revenue. The other focuses on developing app products, which generally requires more resources and time. Known for their flexibility, Hong Kong companies are adept at developing apps to meet clients’ requirements, particularly apps designed for specific marketing campaigns, also known as “Campaign Apps”. Although companies that develop app products are fewer in number, this does not mean their products lack quality; they can even reach international markets.
https://www.hkpc.org/zh-HK/industry-support-services/latest-information/5583-2015-03-09-14-18-13?template=hkpc_text