[raminf]

Just to offer a counter-anecdote, I've personally worked on two mobile projects that were outsourced overseas and came back completely botched. They had to be scrapped and started from scratch.

The main issue was communication and being able to have high-bandwidth face-to-face meetings to clarify what was needed. Extensive use of iChat and Skype didn't seem to help.

Some apps have detailed specs and a lot of upfront work has been done in reducing the ambiguities. Those are probably better candidates for outsourcing. But if the design is fluid and things need to be worked out as-you-go, that seems to be where outsourced projects go pear-shaped.

I personally think there's enough work to go around all over the world, but for certain types of apps you need to have someone you can meet and have a dialog with so you can iterate the design efficiently.

Obviously, each app is different and situations vary so YMMV.