I agree that it is tough being a small agency building apps, but I don't think high value apps are in themselves unprofitable. I think whoever submitted this ha

I agree that it is tough being a small agency building apps, but I don't think high value apps are in themselves unprofitable. I think whoever submitted this has perhaps misjudged the title a little. The problem is that as time has gone on, more traditional agency suppliers have entered into the marketplace. This makes it really difficult for small players to compete. All the big digital agencies are doing app dev in house, and even the big consultancies are getting in on the action (Accenture, Deloitte, etc). I don't think Agant were helped by the fact they weren't based in London either. Hypothetically, let's say you're a large retailer looking to get an app built. Who do you go with: the small player with great creds, or the well established agency that you already used to build your eCom site? I can tell you which one your procurement department will recommend you go with. This isn't really an app specific issue, but one that occurs generally in the agency space (be it traditional print, digital, etc): mid-tier agencies find it very hard to compete. On the one hand they're getting their toes snapped at by one and two man shops who can undercut them, on the other they're not big enough to command attention at RFP stages against vast agency conglomerates.