We all know that the shift to digital technology in general, and more recently the shift to mobile technology in particular, is remaking many businesses and economic sectors.
In an attempt to better understand some of these changes, the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) has just released a new report looking at the role of mobile app development in Ontario's creative industries: books and magazines, film and TV, and music. Collectively, these industries generate $14.5 billion in annual revenue.
Among their findings, which are based on surveys completed by industry representatives in the summer and fall of 2013:
- Half of all respondents already use mobile apps in their businesses; another 31 per cent plan to incorporate them "in the near future."
- Mobile app use isn't evenly distributed within the sector: as expected, a very high percentage of those in the digital media industry have incorporated apps into their businesses (64 per cent), compared to magazines (55 per cent); books (47 per cent); film and tv (39 per cent); and music (32 per cent).
- A large majority (68 per cent) of respondents use their apps as content distribution channels. Of all respondents, 43 per cent have so far seen an increase in sales and revenues in response to incorporating apps into their businesses. This is counterbalanced, however, by the reality that total benefits are right now very hard to measure: only 7 per cent of the respondents who have adopted mobile apps in their businesses reported "any measurable benefits," though the report's authors caution that this "may well be the result of difficulty in measuring the return on investment of mobile apps adoption…as opposed to not getting any discernible benefits from adoption."
- About half (48 per cent) of respondents who have adopted mobile apps report that their operating costs stayed the same; 35 per cent said their operating costs went down, and the average operating cost reduction was 9 per cent.
- As far as building the apps goes, 17 per cent of creative industry businesses do their development in-house, 44 per cent contract development out, and 39 per cent do a combination of both.
- The report estimates that 3,300 new jobs have been created in Ontario's creative businesses as a result of mobile app development and adoption: 55 per cent are full-time, 21 per cent part time, and 24 per cent contract. Toronto, predictably, is the centre for this activity: 40 per cent of the province's mobile app jobs overall are located here.
ICTC's report also looked at the barriers to mobile. "Currently, the biggest hindrance to adoption of mobile apps," the report, says, "appears to be lack of monetization of adoption benefits, with a third (37 per cent) of the enterprises stating that they are aware of the functionalities of mobile apps, but not yet convinced of their value. Other hesitations stemmed from respondents being unfamiliar with the industry, the technology options available to them, previous bad experiences with app development, and concerns about their clients' readiness to use mobile."
Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source:
Mobile Apps: Generating Economic Gains for Creative Media Industries in Ontario