Want An iPhone App? Got $30,000? (AAPL)

Dan Frommer | November 27, 2008 11:45 AM

iphone-3g-duo.jpgMany software companies have spent the last few months figuring out how they can shoehorn their apps into Apple's (AAPL) red hot iPhone software platform. But that requires either learning a brand new set of app-building techniques -- or hiring an iPhone specialist. Which isn't cheap. O'Reilly, via Daring Fireball:

The demand for iPhone developers exceeds the supply and I don't see that changing anytime soon. The going rate for iPhone developers, at least the developers I know and trust, is $125/hour and up. I have some friends who are booked out at $200/hour for the next few months, although $125/hour seems to be the going rate in my network. At that rate, a full-time contract iPhone developer costs $5,000/week and it may take four to six weeks for an application to be developed. Sometimes it will take less and sometimes it will take more. Add to development the other costs - project management, design, QA, and marketing, to name a few. It's not uncommon to spend $30,000 and up on an iPhone development project. iPhone applications are not cheap.

College students: Take that iPhone class! If you work 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, a $125/hour job is $250,000 a year. A $200/hour job is $400,000 a year. Those rates will inevitably fall, but a skilled iPhone app maker is a rare, valuable person these days.

See Also:
Google: Yes, We Broke iPhone App Store Rules
Another Apple iPhone Advantage: Mac Software Companies
Online, Multi-Player Gaming Comes To The iPhone

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16 Comments

Jgbr said:
"40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, a $125/hour job is $250,000 a year"

Sure
Do the math.

40 hours x 50 weeks = 2000 hours.
2000 hours x $125/hr = $250,000.

It will take effort to book 40 billable hours a week for 50 weeks a year. But if you do, there's a lot of money to make.
Jgbr said:
It is not about the numbers.

No company gives such salary to a software developer even it is the sexiest technology on Earth.
JCdeR said:
yeah, I know a friend of a friend whose uncle's son' friend's brother former classmate makes 350$ an hour doing iPhone apps.

I won't even mention the ex neighbor of my local grocery store manager' brother in laws sister' husbands colleague whose grandmother church welfare workers sisters brother .... ah well, you know the rap ... it all comes down to not actually having spoken to anybody whom actually makes these kind of amounts and is booked solid until spring
It's not a salary. This is contract work. Not guaranteed by any means, and no benefits. But much higher pay rates.
jason hiller said:
Some of you may need to pay $125 for a few hours in a critical reading class so you can understand the content of what you are reading. 40 billable hours/week is not altogether that difficult if you are, in fact, skilled enough as the article states. The more important question is why any of the other companies cares enough to put their app on the iphone- I say big deal to the iphone and its applications. First you shouldn't have to sign your entire personal ID away to a company to give them the benefit of your money- Apple has turned into the biggest personal information hoard in the world. Google at least makes something productive from their information which is most often voluntary, Apple just profits from it. Phooey to Apple.
Jgbr said:
Iphome is good for mobile browsing.

Mobile internet needs general web development skills only.
NSN said:
Jgbr..you, my friend, are an uninformed a-hole. Why don't you stay away from commenting on items you obviously know nothing about.
exapted said:
I think a good combination would be expertise in iphone dev + distributed web app dev. Programming for the iphone interface is great - add a general understanding of how a distributed web app with iphone, browser, and other interfaces works from the server side (learn the patterns and a few server side technologies), and you shouldn't have any trouble finding projects...
Jimmy said:
@Jgbr

I've seen 23 yr olds making 250k (base salary) plus profit sharing. You're probably not a high profile developer or you've not been in the right places.

Some developers can make companies millions of dollars every month, a 250k salary is nothing.
Jgbr said:
Yes, some guy has made very good business with iphone software. For example the developer of the game called Trism. It is available in the Apple store.

http://www.demiforce.com/games.html

Yes. I am not a high profile developer and I never been to the right places.

Regards
Dan Riley said:
Where would one go to find iPhone app developers/designers?
Ones that people know are good?

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iphonebootcampnyc.com (URL) said:

$125/hour is slightly below average for an iPhone Developer in New York City. That's the going rate for iPhone Developers in Silicon Valley, where there are a great more of them because many are former employees of Apple in Cupertino.

We run an iphone boot Camp http://www.iphonebootcampnyc.com
in New York, with small workshops teaching everything to the basics to the pros.

Our students get on average $175/hour and they are working all the time. In this economy an iPhone Developers life in New York City is about as good as it gets.

James Moore (URL) said:
Compare this to consulting rates for other kinds of technologies. The iPhone rates I'm hearing are a bit higher than for other things, but hiring skilled developers for other high-end work isn't significantly cheaper than this.

It's not like the world is filled with competent engineers charging $50/hr and the iPhone is triple that.

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