Google Play revenues leap 311% in 2012 Revenue from apps sold in the Google Play store have exploded this year, but they still have quite a way to go before catching up with the cash cow that is the iOS App Store. According to a new report by the app sales and download analysts at App Annie, Google Play sales revenue grew a hefty 311 per cent from January through …
And what about other stores?
It's flawed to only look at Google Play - as Apple have the advantage, as that's the only place you can download from for IOS. What are the stats like for Android in total?
For developers, this is a circular argument - revenues are likely higher, because ios gets so much more support than other platforms, despite never being the most popular. Maybe Android revenue is rising because finally we're getting software support for it? Saying "We're not going to port to Android because they don't pay" reeks of the old "Linux users don't pay for software" flamebait, except this is a world where Android has a staggering 5 times the market share of ios on phones (and presumably still easily leads overall even with tablets included).
Higher revenues for developers shouldn't be spun as a good thing anyway - from a user point of view, I much prefer a platform with more free software or lower cost software.
(Though it's still interesting to see that Android is growing so rapidly - especially as this is presumably due to growth in userbase or more people using software, or more software being released, rather than software prices increasing.)
Developers should look at other factors too - it's downloads or revenue per developer or per application, rather than total for the platform. So a platform with smaller share can still be viable if there's less competition (though iphone is both smaller and with more competition - but I'm thinking of other platforms too. I still get 100x the downloads on Symbian that I do for Android, for example).
"It should be interesting to check the China v US figures in a few months, now that Apple has announced that the iPhone 5, iPad mini, and latest iPad will be available in the Middle Kingdom in the next two weeks."
Because it's not like there'll be any new Android devices(!) Why does any stat that makes Apple look bad have to end with "But there'll be something new out from Apple to change it, honest!"? For Android we've got the high spec and low cost Nexus 4, Nexus 10, Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD, Nook HD, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note 2, not to mention rumours of a Galaxy Note 7, as well as loads of new Android phones on the way.
Your figures sound dodgy (and, prospective down voters, you'll want to stay with this until the end).
The article makes clear that the US contributes the largest proportion of the pot to both stores.
In the US the iPhone 5 recently outsold all Android devices combined (quite accurately reported as e.g. http://qz.com/31396/apple-outsells-android-in-the-us-for-what-could-be-the-last-time-ever/ ).
Conversely, earlier in the year Samsung had a two-to-one lead over Apple(eg, http://www.christianpost.com/news/samsung-sold-double-apples-iphone-sales-thanks-to-galaxy-s3-78977/ ) so that's a highly seasonal trend.
Nevertheless, the reported story is exclusively about 2012 so the presumably temporary reversal of normal sales trends is quite relevant. My feeling is that the Android figures currently look proportionally worse (shortly after the iPhone 5 peak) than they will in, say, six months. If I were a developer making my decision solely on revenue trends I'd put more weight on Android than the bare numbers of this report suggests.
That hypothetical being said, I actually am a developer and can tell you that we consider iOS and Android to be equally important on the grounds that iOS earns us more money right now but the potential for user growth under Android is fantastic. In terms of being healthy not just now but five years from now I think you'd be stupid not to bet on both.
" My feeling is that the Android figures currently look proportionally worse (shortly after the iPhone 5 peak) than they will in, say, six months."
I disagree, a large portion of the iPhone 5 sales were people who were upgrading. An upgrade to iPhone or iPad doesn't usually lead to any new free or paid app purchases so I doubt there would be as big of a skew as you're talking about. There may be a change but not a big one.
I've just withdrawn my credit card from my Google wallet so I'll have to go elsewhere if I want to buy further Android apps. There is no way I'm providing credit card information to an outfit that insists I use the same login to gain access to my Android devices that I use to pay for services. That goes against all the rules required by banks.
I was curious to figure out how Supercell can pull in so much money via only 2 games. A look at the web-site indicates that the games rely heavily on in-game purchases (pay 99$ for virtual gems?!). That will surely make a lot of parents happy (NOT).
Let's hope Android will never get there.
Have you not seen e.g. "Fashion Story" by TeamLava on Android then? $99 for 580 gems?
But you're right, if the genre becomes popular on Android it'll probably come pre-installed on phones with the rest of the bloatware. Together with the open in-app purchase system and inadequate built-in parental restrictions it would be a disaster indeed.
Let's keep that sort of milking to the Norton Security subscriptions mentioned as being very popular non-game app in the report. Only $30/year!
Being an Android user I am finding that there are a larger quantity of higher quality apps available that I am willing to part with a few dollars over. Also to be fair discover-ability is bad on the play store but the "People who looked at this also viewed...." list becoming more relevant...at least to my untrained eye.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/2/3214685/dead-trigger-free-ios
"the number of pirates on iOS is comparable with the amount of jailbroken devices."
In other words, anyone hiding behind the Jailbreaking is legal clause, is basically a pirate hiding behind a lame excuse. (OtherOS springs to mind here - nobody cared about it's removal because of it's function, they cared about it being taken away because it was a potential vector to getting free PS3 games...)
As one of the key reasons that Android SALES of apps are lower, is because more often than not, there is a just as good (or better) version of said app, for free. So whilst iOS developers coming to android scratch their heads and wonder why the money isn't rolling in like it is on iOS(where you can put a pricetag on any old shit, and some mug will buy it), that simply doesn't cut it on Android. You need to offer something above and beyond what's already out there for free.
Harsh but true.
I fail to see how discouraging developers from your platform is a good idea? Hmm I could spend a month or two developing my software/game for Android, where it will be pirated and I will have to move to a freemium model, or I could sell on iOS where I know people will buy and my software is protected.
I think for now I will wait for Google to sort out their Play Store, their security, and see if the market matures thanks, whilst I make money where people buy stuff.
Google are happy to see freemium/ad based models as let's remember they are primarily an ad publisher. They are not going to fix these problems, and basically hope the weight of the market will shove developers towards their model and platform.
The big software houses will continue to churn out their brands on Android, with multiple sequels, and the freemium model may work for some, but the independents who produce good software will continue to stay away from a platform, as crossing your fingers and hoping for a bit of ad revenue, or that your software is not pirated seems like a costly business model.
Being a fandroid and swallowing all Google tells you to love doesnt make it so.
Largely because I can't, unless I hand over a copy of my passport, to a company that's probably already leached my wi-fi details via their street view cars...
http://furbian.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/my-google-walletplaycheckoutwhatever.html
However I found an alternative, Amazon's app store for Android, that works quite well, I can buy things from it, and best of all, a free app every day, some bad, but many very good ones. For Music I'll stick to iTunes, it just works well for me.
Your loss then.
The Amazon app store is total crap in comparison to Google's offering, the apps are limited and out of date, the music and books more costly.
Still if it helps you sleep better at night, because you read some misguided information on the internet about Google Streetview cars collecting data from unprotected wifi points (in the same way that ANY wifi device would also collect that same data from an unprotected wifi spot), then carry on...
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