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Why Android devs are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy

royal.pingdom.com

31–40 of 74 posts

Re: Why Android devs are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy

#31
post #22

I haven't found any Android apps worth buying. I look through the paid apps section now and again and it seems to be very utility-centirc. I'm not going to pay for a backup tool, file manager, ROM manager, over-clocking utility, task manager, etc. Of course you don't have to. The free versions of these apps are good enough. Then you have an assortment of weather apps, alarm clocks, etc. Again stuff that just doesn't…

Interesting. I know that some games are direct ports of their iPhone versions. It doesn't make sense why they would be worth the money on the iPhone but not on Android.

Re: Why Android devs are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But for paid apps, the 30% that gets taken away from your sales goes to the carrier instead Do you have a source for that? As far as I know you pay for apps using Google Checkout and the carrier never enters into it.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10072682-94.html quote "One difference the mobile phone industry might well find appealing: Apple keeps the remaining revenue, but Google gives it to wireless service carriers, minus billing settlement fees."

Huh, I stand corrected. That's really weird; can they tell what carrier you're on when you download an app, even if it's over wifi? Definitely evidence toward Google favoring free apps and not caring as much about the Android Market as much as they should.

Re: Why Android devs are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy

#33
This is not a new problem. It was an issue for Valve with piracy of their games in the Russian market. So they decided to actually sell their games in Russia and it went a long way to reducing piracy of their games in that market. People will get things as soon as they can if they want it. For instance, fansubs of anime and foreign films are pretty popular and widely circulated. If that means stealing it then they will.

[0] http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/valve-we-dont-worry-about-...

Re: Why Android devs are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy

#34
Speaking from my own iPhone App Store experience, the US, Australia, Canada and the UK are by far the biggest customers, with the US obviously having by far the largest single installed base, and therefore the largest demand for apps.

If these countries are covered for buying Android apps, and per the article they are, then Android should be doing just fine.

For this reason, I'd disagree with the premise that the Android marketplace problems are caused by not supporting paid apps in countries that are marginal buyers at best. It seems much more likely that Android apps get pirated, simply because it's relatively easy.

I'm interested in writing for Android, but I'm holding off until I see some evidence that the Google DRM actually works and allows application writers to be paid for their work.

edited to give my reasoning on why I respectfully disagree with the article. ;)

Re: Why Android devs are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy

#36
It is just as big a problem or perhaps even bigger that hardly any countries are allowed to sell apps. It means there are millions of developers with no option to put a price on their apps. So what do they do? they make free apps that compete with the paid apps. The free apps aren't always as good as the paid ones but they still bite into their revenue because for some reason people will irrationally put up with a lot of crappiness to save 99c. And they'll conclude that apps on Android are crap at the same time, hurting the Android brand which hurts all the paid app developers all over again.

The result is the quality of apps is poor and profits are lower across the board.

Re: Why Android devs are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple didn't have the problem at all You sure about that? Just because Apple took care of it doesn't mean it didn't take a lot of work.

The secret is that Apple did all the groundwork years in advance, as part of rolling out the Apple Stores, the iTunes Music Store, et cetera.

But in many countries, such as Singapore, iTunes stores (music, movies, etc) wasn't available. They still aren't available, but the app store is, once they rolled out iPhones worldwide in a matter of months.

Re: Why Android devs are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy

#38
I'm an android guy, but I bought an iPad recently, and I think the author's missing a huge chunk of the issue here: Design & Culture. There is a big, big difference between how Google & Apple handle paid-for purchases - on Android, you get a confirmation screen, you have to verify the purchase, and you get 24hrs to return it. On iOS, you press a button and the app starts downloading. It's almost frighteningly fast - no confirmation screen, no returns, Congrats, and enjoy your $10 app. Psychologically, these are very different experiences, and I think they push users to spend more on iOS than android.

There's also a difference in average price points and expected prices - the android is absolutely cheaper. I think this is partly because the iOS marketplace is more mature, partly because big companies are not totally committed to android yet ("Testing the Market" price, not "Making Money" price), and partly self-reinforcing.

Whatever the cause, though, it's just flat out Easier to spend more money on iOS, and I suspect THAT's why Android devs aren't making what iOS devs are.

Mind you, I think Google's model is more consumer-friendly, and I endorse that, but the flip side to that coin is that Devs aren't making as much money, and that might hurt the platform in the long run.

Re: Why Android devs are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy

#39
post #31
post #22

I haven't found any Android apps worth buying. I look through the paid apps section now and again and it seems to be very utility-centirc. I'm not going to pay for a backup tool, file manager, ROM manager, over-clocking utility, task manager, etc. Of course you don't have to. The free versions of these apps are good enough. Then you have an assortment of weather apps, alarm clocks, etc. Again stuff that just doesn't…

Interesting. I know that some games are direct ports of their iPhone versions. It doesn't make sense why they would be worth the money on the iPhone but not on Android.

It makes a little sense. Demographics is one aspect -- people who buy Android tend to be cheap, and don't like paying for quality. Or else they would own iPhones. :) The required flamebait out of the way, let me get to my real points. (Well, this was a real point too, but said as offensively as possible, which the remaining are not.)

Another issue is market construction. Think about walking by a luxury goods store. Imagine you're on Michigan Avenue with the sky scrapers and the beautiful people, the August sun beating down and a light breeze to keep you cool. All those factors probably put you in a pretty damn good mood, the mood to spend.

Now imagine you're instead in downtown Detroit, browsing the same merchandise through poorly lit, grid-crossed holes in squat, cinderblock buildings. Maybe the goods inside are worth the same amount, but the average person in the same situation is not going to pay as much.

That's what the Android store is like. Two screenshots compressed at just insane levels like Google has run out of hard drives, and four hundred characters for a description. That puts anyone in the mood to spend, right?

A final factor is the miserable battery life of the average Android handset, which makes them less suited to be a gaming device if you want them to work as a phone later.

Also, how many games have really been ported directly to Android from iPhone? I mean good ones, now, ones people have actually bought on the iPhone. There's a halo effect involved too. If you go for years without seeing a decent game for a device, you end up being trained to think of it as a non-gaming device. On the other hand, I only have to browse the internet for a couple of minutes to find a half dozen iPhone games I wouldn't mind paying a buck to try out.

Re: Why Android devs are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy

#40
post #31
post #22

I haven't found any Android apps worth buying. I look through the paid apps section now and again and it seems to be very utility-centirc. I'm not going to pay for a backup tool, file manager, ROM manager, over-clocking utility, task manager, etc. Of course you don't have to. The free versions of these apps are good enough. Then you have an assortment of weather apps, alarm clocks, etc. Again stuff that just doesn't…

Interesting. I know that some games are direct ports of their iPhone versions. It doesn't make sense why they would be worth the money on the iPhone but not on Android.

Apple makes it incredibly easy to buy. Once you have your credit card details on file, you can buy. Or you can get an itunes card from a million different places. Also, people have likely already bought from Apple, a song or tv show.

Google really suck in this department, although I am mainly pissed because they still will not let Aussies SELL apps in the store. Maybe Google do not care about this at all, since this has been an issue regularly bought up here and in other places other the last 3 or 4 months.

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