Android apps make only 24% as much as iOS apps

[Brian Stirling]

So iOS has a piracy problem to -- not surprising given the fact that many younger types just assume it's OK to steel. The problem is far worse on Android of course, but, over time, expect the piracy issue to get worse with iOS as more younger types buy into the Apple world.

Now I know that as soon as anyone says anything along the lines of "... steeling ..." that many here jump on you for suggesting that downloading something you didn't pay for is the same as steeling. Hey, it IS steeling! When an app dev has 5000+ people playing the game they worked hard and paid good money to develop and then they find that less then 200 people actually paid $0.99 for it it's not hard to see the damage done by this steeling.

But, I know that saying this means nothing -- when you grew up downloading music and games from file sharing sites and now download movies you didn't pay for it's hard to convince you that what you are doing is wrong -- it's what 'everyone' is doing -- right?

Apple may have a problem with this but it is endemic with Android and one of the main things that are holding it back from seeing truly great apps developed for it. Would you, as a developer, spent time and money developing for Android when so few apps make money.


Brian

 

[goog40]

iPad and iPhone shoppers account for 90% of all mobile purchases; spend 19% more per order than Android users

-- iPad and iPhone Dominate Mobile Shopping: Apple mobile devices account for the bulk of all online non-desktop sales: just over 92% of the sales originated from an iPad or an iOS-enabled device in December 2011, up from 88 percent in April. Apple mobile devices also have a larger AOV (Average Order Value) compared to other mobile platforms ($123 for Apple vs. $101 for Android in December 2011) -- and far outstrip desktop orders ($87)

That's a staggering disparity considering the number of Android devices out there.

 

[dagamer34]

I've got apps on both platforms, and I think while Android may have more phones, I really suspect most of them are never connected to the Internet (and thus can't buy apps). The mobile browser numbers support this fact. Plus, for some reason or another, I often have customers try to buy my app and the purchase won't go through. This happens maybe 10-15% of the time, probably often enough to dissuade people from buying from the Market.

 

[alent1234]

So iOS has a piracy problem to -- not surprising given the fact that many younger types just assume it's OK to steel. The problem is far worse on Android of course, but, over time, expect the piracy issue to get worse with iOS as more younger types buy into the Apple world.

Now I know that as soon as anyone says anything along the lines of "... steeling ..." that many here jump on you for suggesting that downloading something you didn't pay for is the same as steeling. Hey, it IS steeling! When an app dev has 5000+ people playing the game they worked hard and paid good money to develop and then they find that less then 200 people actually paid $0.99 for it it's not hard to see the damage done by this steeling.

But, I know that saying this means nothing -- when you grew up downloading music and games from file sharing sites and now download movies you didn't pay for it's hard to convince you that what you are doing is wrong -- it's what 'everyone' is doing -- right?

Apple may have a problem with this but it is endemic with Android and one of the main things that are holding it back from seeing truly great apps developed for it. Would you, as a developer, spent time and money developing for Android when so few apps make money.


Brian

iOS got around the piracy issue with in-app purchases

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

well Titanium Backup has been uncracked for months now. they did a good job in fighting the crackers

Edit: I take that back. They broke the 4.6 series finally apparently....

 

[CTho9305]

Side note 2. With this thread focusing on apps and developers, I'm going to bring up the WebOS TouchPad and WP7. WebOS may live as an open source, community project but unless it gets picked up by HTC/Samsung/Motorola/etc, its dead. The TouchPad is dead. Its cheap, but its entire future revolves around Android running on it. A feat that Joe Smith isn't going to do. The apps you see today are all the apps you're ever going to see. Is any developer going to waste their time developing anything for a platform that less than .001% of customers use? Not likely.

To be fair, I got my TouchPad for $100 and it's a fantastic web/Facebook/Twitter device. It's only dead if you expect it to compete with with much more expensive devices (for which one should expect great app support)...but anyone getting the firesale knew what they were getting into. WebOS is by far my favorite OS (I've used iOS extensively and Android a little)...really a shame about its future. I have no plans to downgrade to Android.