Paid apps find success much easier on Apple's iPhone than on Google Android
A new analysis of mobile applications has found that while paid software in the iPhone App Store routinely finds success, selling software on the Android platform is a much more difficult proposition.
Analytics firm Distimo on Friday issued a new report offering an "in-depth view on download volumes in the Google Android Market." The results show that reaching sales of more than a half-million for paid applications on Android is extremely difficult.
Distimo found that only two paid applications in the Android market have been downloaded more than 500,000 times worldwide in the history of the digital storefront. For comparison, six paid applications available on the App Store reached 500,000 in the U.S. alone in just a two month span.
Even when the numbers are reduced to 250,000, it still shows Apple with a clear advantage. Looking at just games, Distimo found that there are five paid games in the Android market with more than a quarter-million sales worldwide. For the iPhone, ten paid games reached 250,000 downloads in the U.S. alone in two months.
The study also found that the "refresh rate" of paid software in the top 10 is much higher on the iPhone App Store than it is in the Android market. During the month of April, 94 distinct paid applications appeared in the top 10 total downloads, while only 26 distinct paid applications reached the overall top 10 in the Android market.
The data further confirms comments made earlier this year by an Android platform manager at Google. Eric Chu told developers in January that Google is "not happy" about the limited number of mobile applications actually being purchased from the Android Market.
The new numbers show that sales of mobile applications on Apple's iOS platform remain well ahead of the competition, even though the collective sum of Android devices has been outpacing Apple's limited number of hardware options for some time now. In April, the NPD Group revealed that Android devices accounted for 50 percent of U.S. smartphone sales, while the iPhone and iOS accounted for 28 percent of smartphones sold domestically.
Analytics firm Distimo on Friday issued a new report offering an "in-depth view on download volumes in the Google Android Market." The results show that reaching sales of more than a half-million for paid applications on Android is extremely difficult.
Distimo found that only two paid applications in the Android market have been downloaded more than 500,000 times worldwide in the history of the digital storefront. For comparison, six paid applications available on the App Store reached 500,000 in the U.S. alone in just a two month span.
Even when the numbers are reduced to 250,000, it still shows Apple with a clear advantage. Looking at just games, Distimo found that there are five paid games in the Android market with more than a quarter-million sales worldwide. For the iPhone, ten paid games reached 250,000 downloads in the U.S. alone in two months.
The study also found that the "refresh rate" of paid software in the top 10 is much higher on the iPhone App Store than it is in the Android market. During the month of April, 94 distinct paid applications appeared in the top 10 total downloads, while only 26 distinct paid applications reached the overall top 10 in the Android market.
The data further confirms comments made earlier this year by an Android platform manager at Google. Eric Chu told developers in January that Google is "not happy" about the limited number of mobile applications actually being purchased from the Android Market.
The new numbers show that sales of mobile applications on Apple's iOS platform remain well ahead of the competition, even though the collective sum of Android devices has been outpacing Apple's limited number of hardware options for some time now. In April, the NPD Group revealed that Android devices accounted for 50 percent of U.S. smartphone sales, while the iPhone and iOS accounted for 28 percent of smartphones sold domestically.
Comments
I'll give angry birds as an example. That game has a huge following, gets regular updates that add many levels. I think it should cost more than 99 cents. More like 4 bucks.
Looks good on paper.
But what if people at the low end of the market buy hardly any apps? Will devs still shift? Lol. Strategy fail.
Perhaps Google's strategy for unseating iOS was to enter the market at the bottom, sell a lot more cheaper devices, become the dominant platform by sheer numbers, forcing devs to shift to them.
Looks good on paper.
But what if people at the low end of the market buy hardly any apps? Will devs still shift? Lol. Strategy fail.
Google used the MS strategy. Flood the market with a lot of junk. Whore out the OS to anyone and everyone.
It'll create big share numbers, along with headaches, user frustration, and an inconsistent experience.
as far as I'm concerned, they can have the market share crown in that case. Keep it.
Anyone who respects their OS - actually cares about what they've created, DOES NOT license universally. Period.
Of course, devs still prefer iOS. Because it seems that people actually like to get paid for their work.
Which fits right in with Google's business model. If consumers will tolerate it, an Android market with nothing but ad supported apps would be just fine, especially if those ads are using Google's metrics.
Google World: everything is "free" as long as you don't mind having everything with an ad attached and contributing to the endlessly refined real time virtual persona that resides on Google's servers. Or as their former CEO would have it, they can "tell you what you want to do next" because they can "more or less know what you're thinking about."
2) Why is iPad and iPhone broken into separate categories, but not Android smartphone and tablet? Are there no apps for Honeycomb? What does that say for those wanting to buy an Android-based tablet?
3) Maybe some will take note of what can happen when you build well instead of trying to build fast.
as far as I'm concerned, they can have the market share crown in that case. Keep it.
Amen to that. Personally I will continue to use what I regard as the best product regardless of what other people are doing.
● The comparison is somewhat meaningless as Android focuses on free apps supported by ads.
● The comparison is somewhat meaningless as iOS developers can also sell to iPod Touch and iPad customers.
● On the iOS (and probably Android as well) the vast majority of the money goes to only a few devs. Speaking as a small dev that gets caught on the wrong end of that, Apple could help me out by:
1) Reducing the number of redundant apps. For example, you don't need 800+ fart apps. 20 would be more than enough. This would give customers a reason to explore the stores for additional apps.
2) Improving the search capabilities in the various stores (although, to be fair, they're not as bad as what I saw in the Amazon Mac store yesterday). This would give customers the ability to explore the store for additional apps.
Edit:
Also, even speaking as a consumer I'd like to see those two changes.
Better search would help devs a lot. Right now every record in that 400,000+ app database is reduced to the same common denominator.
I would like to see them hire some professional reviewers. Poach them from magazines or something. And then have an option to sort by pro review rating.
I'll give angry birds as an example. That game has a huge following, gets regular updates that add many levels. I think it should cost more than 99 cents. More like 4 bucks.
I don't think that the developers of Angry Birds are unsatisfied with over 100 million downloads of their game. Even with Apple's cut they have still collected over 60 million $$$$ and counting ..... color them happy .... very happy. One of the keys to success is to know your market customer base .... I think they nailed it.
http://www.gamingunion.net/news/angr...ion--4337.html
1) Notify the user when _any_ private data is being accessed by an app, not just location data.
2) Notify the user when their personal data has been stolen, whether by an app, or by someone hacking the server.
3) Implement Senator Franken's suggestion of requiring apps to provide an easy to understand privacy policy.
A few quick comments:
● The comparison is somewhat meaningless as Android focuses on free apps supported by ads.
● The comparison is somewhat meaningless as iOS developers can also sell to iPod Touch and iPad customers.
● On the iOS (and probably Android as well) the vast majority of the money goes to only a few devs. Speaking as a small dev that gets caught on the wrong end of that, Apple could help me out by:
1) Reducing the number of redundant apps. For example, you don't need 800+ fart apps. 20 would be more than enough. This would give customers a reason to explore the stores for additional apps.
2) Improving the search capabilities in the various stores (although, to be fair, they're not as bad as what I saw in the Amazon Mac store yesterday). This would give customers the ability to explore the store for additional apps.
Edit:
Also, even speaking as a consumer I'd like to see those two changes.
Your comments are somewhat meaningless as:
1) iOS also has a huge contingent of free apps that are also ad supported.
2) Android developers can also taget the Xoom, Galaxy Tab, Dell Streak the Asus Transformer thing...
3) I am sure the distribution is similar between Android and iOS. That still means an iOS programmer is making over 20X more than an Android programmer (on average).
You are right that Android could do with far fewer Fart apps (as it has 3X more than iOS). Android could also do without the 30,000+ animated wall paper apps. Search and discovery could also be improved on both Android's and iOS's store fronts as well.
Your comments are somewhat meaningless as:
1) iOS also has a huge contingent of free apps that are also ad supported.
2) Android developers can also taget the Xoom, Galaxy Tab, Dell Streak the Asus Transformer thing...
3) I am sure the distribution is similar between Android and iOS. That still means an iOS programmer is making over 20X more than an Android programmer (on average).
You are right that Android could do with far fewer Fart apps (as it has 3X more than iOS). Android could also do without the 30,000+ animated wall paper apps. Search and discovery could also be improved on both Android's and iOS's store fronts as well.
Whatever, Mr. 100 mile location data. LOL
I don't think that the developers of Angry Birds are unsatisfied with over 100 million downloads of their game. Even with Apple's cut they have still collected over 60 million $$$$ and counting ..... color them happy .... very happy. One of the keys to success is to know your market customer base .... I think they nailed it.
http://www.gamingunion.net/news/angr...ion--4337.html
Yes I know that, but I was stating that I think the value of the game is worth more than 99 cents. We all know they've made serious bucks.
You left out The Big Duh:
● People who drive Bentleys also spend more on shoes, restaurants, and vacation resorts.
The Apple customer is a well-known demographic niche that's accustomed to paying more.
You got it.
Perhaps you didn't realize it or it's not what you intended to do, but you actually said something positive about Apple for a change!
Google used the MS strategy. Flood the market with a lot of junk. Whore out the OS to anyone and everyone.
It'll create big share numbers, along with headaches, user frustration, and an inconsistent experience.
as far as I'm concerned, they can have the market share crown in that case. Keep it.
Anyone who respects their OS - actually cares about what they've created, DOES NOT license universally. Period.
Of course, devs still prefer iOS. Because it seems that people actually like to get paid for their work.
As usual, spot on, Quado!
Many Android people are apparently cheapskates, I've said that before. Some Android people get their phones for free. Go to an Android forum and you'll hear plenty of talk of people rooting their phones. Many people who root their phones are pirates, regardless if they'll claim otherwise. There are also far better apps on iOS than on Android.
So to sum it up, I'm not surprised that people who appreciate quality are willing to spend more money on items and software than a bunch of freeloaders who boast about an open OS that's not really open and people who constantly blabber on about rooting their damn phones.
Android people must be too busy rooting their phones and playing around with their lame desktops to have any time to use apps, much less pay for them.
I would like to see them hire some professional reviewers. Poach them from magazines or something. And then have an option to sort by pro review rating.
Brilliant! One step up from "staff favs." I think that is an excellent idea!
Google used the MS strategy. Flood the market with a lot of junk. Whore out the OS to anyone and everyone.
It'll create big share numbers, along with headaches, user frustration, and an inconsistent experience.
as far as I'm concerned, they can have the market share crown in that case. Keep it.
Anyone who respects their OS - actually cares about what they've created, DOES NOT license universally. Period.
Of course, devs still prefer iOS. Because it seems that people actually like to get paid for their work.
Once again I tinkered with a friend's XOOM tablet. No wonder it's a hit with the geeks, nerds, and tech-heads and hated by the joe-consumer. Android is an ADHD dream, horrible GUI interface, choppy performance... oh... but it can be ROOTED!