Apple App Store made 20x the money of Google android market in 2010

[cheezy321]

Pretty much confirms my thoughts that hardly anybody on android pays for apps

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/21/861-5-percent-growth-android-puny/

You read the headline “Android Market grows a staggering 861.5 per cent”, and you think, “Wow, Android is really on a tear.” But then you look at the fine print, and you realize that Android Market revenues are still barely registering, and that the only reason they grew so much in 2010 was because in 2009 they were nearly non-existent.

According to a chart making the rounds from UK-based research firm IHS, Android Market revenues in 2010 came in at an estimated $102 million, up from $11 million the year before.

And how did that compare to revenues from Apple’s App Store? Apple App Store revenues came in at an estimated $1.7 billion in 2010, almost 20 times bigger than Android. And Apple App Store revenue grew at a not-too-shabby 131.9 percent rate. More importantly, Apple accounts for 83 percent of the total estimated app store revenues.

It’s great that Android app store revenues are growing so fast, but whenever you see such sky-high numbers, be sure to look at what is the base they are growing from. Android will have to keep growing at astounding rates for a few more years simply to catch up to where Apple’s App Store is today.

If you are an app developer trying to make money, you still really don’t have much of a choice about where to put your apps. No wonder Apple feels like it can treat app developers any way it wants, and take an increasing percentage of their revenues.

How much longer till android users start buying apps? Will the android market ever really take off?

 

[shortylickens]

Which means Android is the win for us consumers and Apple is the win for stock holders.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

how is it a win for consumers when the apps still suck ass? i think it's a double lose.

 

[theeedude]

Thanks for the info, sounds like it's going Android for me, since I hate paying for stuff

 

[zerocool84]

how is it a win for consumers when the apps still suck ass? i think it's a double lose.

No, you just think everything Android sucks ass. If Android sucks ass so much stop using it and use another platform. You cry about it in every post you make about it.

 

[iahk]

hmm, this just translates to - an iphone user would buy a fart app and an android user wouldn't..

 

[cheezy321]

Thanks for the info, sounds like it's going Android for me, since I hate paying for stuff

Keep on thinking that developers are going to flock to a platform that nobody pays for apps on.

 

[cheezy321]

Which means Android is the win for us consumers and Apple is the win for stock holders.

riiiiiiight.

 

[theeedude]

Keep on thinking that developers are going to flock to a platform that nobody pays for apps on.

Since I am not interested in paying for apps, the types of developers that will flock to Android are the ones whose products I am interested in. It does not concern me what platform paid app developers will pick since I am not interested in paying for apps.

 

[Bateluer]

Whats the ratio of paid apps to free apps on iTunes and Android Market?

 

[zerocool84]

Maybe part of it has to do with not being able to get a refund form the Apple store so you're stuck with whatever you buy and now that Android app store has a shorter return policy it'll help with everything getting returned after they used it.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Since I am not interested in paying for apps, the types of developers that will flock to Android are the ones whose products I am interested in. It does not concern me what platform paid app developers will pick since I am not interested in paying for apps.

This could mean that developers who did free apps still got paid from ad revenue...

 

[poofyhairguy]

As someone who recently got my first Android device after being in the iOS world only, I can believe this. There are many more free apps on Android, even Angry Birds doesn't cost anything on Android. Because of Android's ability to display ads in applications easily, I think way more money is being made on "free" apps supported by ads.

 

[MrX8503]

Whats weird is that the BB/Sybmian app stores rake in more money than Android. I'm not sure how that works.

 

[postmortemIA]

I bought only one app (game) after over a year of having android phone. Everything else was freeware.

It is one of reasons why people choose android. So this is affecting apple as people who get android phone instead of iphone will not buy anything on apple store.

 

[Fear No Evil]

Just because a program is free doesn't mean the dev isn't making money. From what I've read most devs make more from ads than they do by offering a 'paid' program.

 

[akugami]

Which means Android is the win for us consumers and Apple is the win for stock holders.

How is this a win for consumers? Without competition prices won't drop. Granted most apps in the iTunes store are dirt cheap. Still, this is not good news for Android users because with the smaller revenues, it would mean developers are more likely to drop Android app development and concentrate on where they perceive the money is, on iTunes.

Thanks for the info, sounds like it's going Android for me, since I hate paying for stuff

If developers have no incentive to create apps for a platform then outside of "mainstream" apps you'll have a hell of a time looking for apps. Even with common apps, with less competition prices don't drop and developers have less incentive to really improve.

As someone who recently got my first Android device after being in the iOS world only, I can believe this. There are many more free apps on Android, even Angry Birds doesn't cost anything on Android. Because of Android's ability to display ads in applications easily, I think way more money is being made on "free" apps supported by ads.

Actually it's just as easy displaying ads in an iOS app. There are a ton of ad supported apps on iOS. But you bring up a good point. I'd like to see the ad revenues for the iOS platform as well as Android.

 

[theeedude]

This could mean that developers who did free apps still got paid from ad revenue...

If other people clicking on ads generates enough revenue for developer to let me use the app for free, I don't have a problem with it.

 

[Anubis]

there arent any aps worth paying for on ios either. i honestly don't know what the fuck you apple idiots are spending your money on

free/default aps do 99% of everything just fine.

someone blah blah blah user experience blah blah blah polish

 

[zerocool84]

As someone who recently got my first Android device after being in the iOS world only, I can believe this. There are many more free apps on Android, even Angry Birds doesn't cost anything on Android. Because of Android's ability to display ads in applications easily, I think way more money is being made on "free" apps supported by ads.

Whats weird is that the BB/Sybmian app stores rake in more money than Android. I'm not sure how that works.

Poof said it. He's noticed many more free apps so when there's more free apps there's less need to pay for apps. Plus most apps have had ads in them for a while.

 

[tvdang7]

android will not ever be as big as the apple app store becuase of 1 reason. On android we can install .apk with out buying it or downloading it from the store. so basically its easier to "pirate".

 

[Bateluer]

android will not ever be as big as the apple app store becuase of 1 reason. On android we can install .apk with out buying it or downloading it from the store. so basically its easier to "pirate".

And the Android Market is still growing exponentially, even with other vendors(Amazon, B&N, Verizon, etc) all wanting their own app stores.
You can pirate iOS apps just as easily, remember

 

[Mopetar]

Probably has something to do with Google preventing charging for apps in certain countries so a lot of people end up going with free versions with ads. Google probably doesn't care too much about this because they're likely to be the one selling those ads so they make money either way.

Will be interesting when Amazon gets their app store up and running. They should have things set up so that developers can sell apps worldwide.

 

[akugami]

And the Android Market is still growing exponentially, even with other vendors(Amazon, B&N, Verizon, etc) all wanting their own app stores.
You can pirate iOS apps just as easily, remember

Not quite as easy since it's slightly harder to jailbreak an iPhone than to root an Android phone. But I do agree it's extremely easy to get pirated apps on an iPhone if you're determined. Heck, I think it was less than a week after Verizon's iPhone 4 was released before it was jailbroken.

there arent any aps worth paying for on ios either. i honestly don't know what the fuck you apple idiots are spending your money on

free/default aps do 99% of everything just fine.

someone blah blah blah user experience blah blah blah polish

I have apps on iOS, bought and paid for, that are not available on Android. You just made an assumption that everyone who chose an iPhone is an idiot. I was also recently going to get my Dad a smartphone. He prefers to stay on T-Mobile. The app that he would need is also not available on Android. These are language related apps and very very niche.

My daughter also likes playing with my iPhone. I have bought books from iReading on iTunes that will read the story in both English and Chinese and will display script in English or Chinese (Simplified and Traditional). These books aren't available on Android.

My wife is not a native English speaker. An app like that of a Cambridge talking dictionary (also availabe on Android) saves her from buying a standalone talking translator which generally costs north of $100. So a purchase of less than $20 saves her from buying and having to carry another device that costs at least $100.

Then there are also apps like Photobuddy which can aid budding photographers.

I'm sure others can come up with apps that they paid for and find valuable as well whether it's for productivity or just games to pass the time.

Comments like yours are made out of ignorance. It also exhibits an attitude that is IMHO much worse than what you accuse the so called "Apple fanboys" of. It's their money, they can spend it how they wish. Who are you to tell people how to spend their hard earned dollars?

 

[kamikazekyle]

When I flipped to Android from i-Devices, I also cut back on the apps I paid for. Personally, I'll pay for an app when I believe that (1) it provides an appreciable upgrade in quality/features from a free app, (2) there is no free counterpart available, or (3) the free app is so good that I donate to the dev. A lot of apps I've come across that I use/want to use on Android are so poor quality on the paid versions I just use the free version or a free alternative. It's hard to get the urge to pay for an app when it looks or functions like it was slapped together by an automated code engine, or if the developer did a crappy port to make a quick buck. Of course this is subjective and relative to the apps I personally use or want to use, and is not indicative of the Android app store as a whole.

Also, since many paid apps are charged in native currencies on the Android store, I get charged an international service fee every time I buy such an app. So this app that is listed as 99 pence not only gets converted to USD, but then gets some more tacked on by my bank for an international service fee. For many apps I am interested in I'd wind up paying more for the same functionality on Android if I went with the paid app than if I went with something equivalent from the iTunes App store.

Again, this is just my subjective personal experience; there just isn't much on Android I'm willing to fork over money for unless it improves in quality or can help me justify an extra international service fee from my bank.