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Fortune Favors the iPhone Developer

Pros and amateurs stampede to profit from tech 'gold rush'

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 4, 2009 2:52 PM CDT

(Newser) – There’s really no sure way of making a buck these days—unless you write a successful app for the iPhone, the New York Times says. Professionals and amateurs alike are cashing in on the iPhone gold rush by developing applications. Cash-strapped programmer Ethan Nicholas, whose app has topped 2 million downloads, made $800,000 in 5 months. "I called my boss and said, ‘We need to talk,’” he said. “And I quit my job."

With hordes of new-age forty-niners flooding the market with copycat apps, many languish in obscurity. “There are hundreds or thousands who put all their efforts into creating something, and it gets ignored,” said an author. But app conferences and an undergraduate Stanford course remain popular. “I’m going to milk the gold rush as long as I can,” said Nicholas.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (2)]

Keep up with Season 8 finalists with the new American Idol iPhone app by Zumobi, Available Now on iTunes. (PRNewsFoto/Zumobi)

Model holds the new iPhone during the first day of the release in Hong Kong, Friday July 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A customer in the queue looks at a new Apple iPhone 3G being put on sale for the first time at Apple retail store. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

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Even if you're not a programming guru, you can still cobble something together and potentially have great success. - James Katz, professor

People are realizing that by developing in their garage with a couple dollars, they could be the next Facebook. It’s still early days for mobile development, but those days are coming. - Matt Murphy, venture capitalist

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Fortune Favors the iPhone Developer