It’s no surprise that slow development processes are costing companies greatly, but by how much? According to a new report by the mobile testing company Kobiton, 75% of respondents said slow mobile app releases cost their company at least $100,000 each year, and 13% said it costs them between $1 million and $10 million every year. 

Additionally, 75% said that mobile apps represent at least a quarter of their companies’ revenue, which highlights the fact that slow releases may threaten the viability of their business, not just their bottom line. 

When asked how frequently they release mobile app updates, 38% said weekly, 27% said monthly, 20% said daily, 14% said quarterly, and 1% said less than once per quarter. 

In terms of what is causing delays, limited financial resources are the culprit for 50% of organizations. Forty-seven percent also cited inefficient development and QA processes and 40% cited a lack of skilled development and QA labor. 

To combat some of these challenges, many companies are turning to test automation and other AI-based technologies. Manual tests take at least three days for 61% of companies, while automated tests can be completed in a matter of hours.

Twenty-eight percent of respondents claimed it took 1-3 hours to run automated tests, 32% said it takes 3-6 hours, 21% said it takes 6-9 hours, and 8% said it takes more than 10 hours. Eleven percent of respondents can complete their automated tests in under an hour. 

For those that have moved from manual to automated tests, time to market decreased by 25-50% for 37% of respondents and more than 50% for 18% of respondents.  

At the time of the survey, 48% of the respondents were automating 10 to 24% of their tests and 22% were automating 25 to 49% of their tests. Ideally, about half of respondents reported they would like to automate more than 50% of their tests. 

Some of the top strategies companies are following to increase their test automation coverage include providing training to enhance automation skills, hiring more automation engineers, using low-code/no-code automation tools, and building automation scripts using iOS and Android Native frameworks.

When asked how generative AI is playing into their testing strategy, 47% said they are using it to generate test scripts, 60% are using it to update scripts or code, and 55% are using it to analyze test results. Only 8% of respondents said they have not used generative AI at all. 

Looking ahead to the future, respondents said the most useful AI capabilities would be the ability to predict potential defects (51%), using generative AI to create test cases and data (45%), natural language processing for better test case documentation (44%), image recognition for UI testing (36%), and self-healing test strategies (36%).

“Witnessing firsthand the transformative power of AI tools in the realm of mobile app development and testing for our customers has been a remarkable journey,” said Frank Moyer, CTO of Kobiton. “By enhancing productivity, reducing costs, and enabling professionals to focus on more strategic tasks, AI is fundamentally reshaping the industry’s landscape. As these tools continue to evolve, I anticipate a profound and accelerated embrace of AI-driven methodologies.”