Mobile Dev market demand slowing down?

[oneiroscopist]

I have a few friends that freelance as iOS devs. Before, they were always overwhelmed with demand for their services, but now three of them are sitting without projects. Since I am considering becoming a freelance developer, I am curious: did the demand for iOS developers slow down? Do other freelancers experience the same thing?

[ScottWhigham]

Interesting... It's funny how, when a tech/thing is "hot", you just don't really look ahead 5-10 years and think about it being anything less than "hot" then too (or at least that's my tendency). Looking at your question today in a new light, I can see how many factors would cause this:

1) More time = more competition. The more time has passed, the more developers have been able to learn to code.

2) More competition = better marketing by the competition. If your marketing skills stay the same, it's likely that you'll see lower/diminished call for services if your competition's marketing skills increase.

3) More marketing = more generalization. If everyone is advertising the same services, what are the differentiators? Price and design are easy ones for even the most uneducated clients to see. Architecture and "quality" are not.

4) More generalization = more commoditization. Everyone does "it" so you have to do "it". And you'd better not charge too much more/less than everyone else.

5) More commoditization = lower profit margins.

6) Lower profit margins = adding new services to make up those costs.

Sorry for the ramble - just thinking out loud a bit. I'm probably off on one or more of these but I like the thought process.

[denniskubes]

I don't think it is rambling. I think your observations are right on and not just for mobile devs.

[oneiroscopist]

Scott,

good observation. On the other hand, one would expect the demand to be rising, too - everybody and their dog wants a mobile app.

The reason I posted, though, was to see of other mobile devs see the same trend.

[jamesseattle]

I'm not as tuned into iOS right now but a guy I work with just got an Android gig. As soon as he started looking he got a ton of calls and found one he liked in less than a week.

[oneiroscopist]

Thanks, JamesInSeattle. Do you know HOW he looked for them? The methodology, so to say?

[jamesseattle]

Nothing special. He put his resume on job boards and started getting calls from recruiters. He looked at jobs offered found some he liked, applied to some, and one of those hired him.

I'm not looking right now but I check craigslist from time to time and there are more iOS jobs now than 12-18 months ago when I was looking.