Would you like an app with that?

After a post listing five trends to let go in 2014 Hugh Stephens adds his own pet peeve to the list.  

On the subject of 2013 trends that really shouldn’t continue into 2014, I can’t help but raise apps. If I had a dollar for every time I heard “we’re thinking of developing an app…” I’d probably retire comfortably to a private island.

What is the obsession with apps? Well, that’s simple. IBISWorld suggests that the Australian app development industry is worth $295m, with an annual growth rate (2008-13) of 177 per cent. Between “socially mobile” (Yellow Pages Social Media Report), “second screen entertainment” (too many references), it’s become painfully obvious (in case it wasn’t already) that consumers use smartphones. Smartphones are the most popular device to access social media with (Yellow Pages report), over 52% of Australians have a smartphone (from a Google report, May 2012), and 61 per cent search for product information on their phone (Google report).

Okay, so you get it (if you didn’t already). Lots of people use phones, and they use them a lot. Yay – a new marketing channel! And that’s definitely the case. I’m not going to talk about mobile advertising – that’s neither my area of expertise or something that particularly annoys me.