App Ecosystem

An app ecosystem is a collection of applications centered around a core digital platform that enhance the platform, drive revenue for application developers, and deliver a range of benefits for platform providers, such as lower customer churn, higher revenue, and more.

Examples of consumer app ecosystems are those that are centered around mobile devices, such as the Apple App Store and the Android Google Play store. It is estimated that these mobile app ecosystems will be worth $6.3 trillion by 2021.

An example of an enterprise app ecosystem is the Salesforce AppExchange. Featuring apps purpose-built for Salesforce.com, the AppExchange generates billions in revenue for multiple industry sectors, from finance to manufacturing. By 2022, the AppExchange ecosystem will be more than five times bigger than Salesforce.com, meaning that for every dollar Salesforce.com will make, its ecosystem will make $5.18.