PPI - Radically Pragmatic
  • Donate
Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Locations
    • Careers
  • People
  • Projects
  • Our Work
  • Events
  • Donate

Our Work

Vietnam and the App Economy

  • September 10, 2015
  • Michael Mandel
Download PDF

All around the world we are seeing the rise of the App Economy—jobs, companies, and economic growth created by the production and distribution of mobile applications (“apps”) that run on smartphones. Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, the App Economy has grown from nothing to a powerful economic force that rivals existing industries.

Many people mistakenly think of mobile apps as simply games. In Vietnam, the mobile game app Flappy Bird got an enormous amount of attention after being released in 2013 by Vietnam-based developer Nguyễn Hà Đông, at one point becoming the number one downloaded free game on the iOS app store.

Games are important—but in reality, mobile games are only a small part of the App Economy. Apps are used by major multinationals, by banks, by media companies, by retailers, and by governments. As of July 2015, there were 1.6 million apps available for Android, and another 1.5 million available on Apple’s App Store.

Apps are the essential front door to the Internet. In the United States, most people use apps to access the Internet on their smartphones. They log onto the Face- book app, or their bank app, or the app of their airline. One could spend an entire day on the Internet while only using apps.

Download “2015.09-Mandel_Vietnam-and-the-App-Economy”

Related Work

Press Release  |  June 10, 2025

New PPI Report Finds Tech and E-Commerce Sectors Are a Powerful Engine for Local Resilience

  • Michael Mandel
Publication  |  June 10, 2025

The 2025 PPI Tech/Info/Ecommerce Job Index: Fighting Recession on the Local Level

  • Michael Mandel
Op-Ed  |  June 6, 2025

Weinstein Jr. for Forbes: More Colleges Freeze Hiring And Suspend Salary Increases

  • Paul Weinstein Jr.
Budget Breakdown  |  May 29, 2025

House Republicans Rub SALT into Deficit Wounds

  • Alex Kilander
Blog  |  May 28, 2025

California Broadband Bill Misses Mark

  • Michael Mandel
Op-Ed  |  May 28, 2025

Jacoby for Forbes: Europe Looks For Alternatives To A Changing NATO

  • Tamar Jacoby
  • Never miss an update:

  • Subscribe to our newsletter
PPI Logo
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Donate
  • Careers
  • © 2025 Progressive Policy Institute. All Rights Reserved.
  • |
  • Privacy Policy
  • |
  • Privacy Settings