Brompton Academy

Sector Outlook

The phenomenal growth in mobile sales and the demand for innovative apps

continues to fuel this industry. Some of the figures are staggering. In one

recorded day, 400 billion apps where opened by users worldwide. Global sales

of apps and phones /phablets is expected to reach £350 billion by the end of

this year. The UK has a solid share in the app market generating in excess of

£4 billion a year with revenues estimated at 31 billion by 2025. The UK

produces talented and innovative developers and is home to some well know

companies such King Digital Entertainment, the creators of the popular game

Candy Crush Saga. The UK also has a strong export business with almost half

of app companies generating the majority of their revenues from abroad.

There are 8000 app companies in the UK with more than 50% of these

concentrated in London and the South East. The industry employs around

380,000 people with around 75,000 people working as designers and

developers. The usage of apps is practically unlimited and the marketplace

is very innovative. Developers with inventive ideas are in high demand.

Subsequently, skill level is also a great need as the demand currently outstrips

supply due to a lack of developers with the necessary abilities. Developers

need the ability to work across multiple platforms such as HTML5, Swift,

Python, Objective-C, CSS, Ruby and JavaScript.

The average annual salary for developers is above the UK average at around

£47,000 per year, with experienced developers able to command a wage of

£400+ per day. The industry needs entrants with passion, programming skills,

solution focussed and the ability to communicate. One of the best ways to

demonstrate your programming is to write and release your own app. Degrees

in graphic design, computer science, software engineering, gaming or mobile

technology would also enhance your employability. The industry expects to

recruit another 30,000 developers in the next year, as growth continues with

messaging and lifestyle apps on the rise.

Mobile Apps