AppleInsider Staff
The data was released on Thursday by Canalys, which reviewed the top 100 paid applications in the Android Market and compared them to the top 100 on the iPhone App Store. On average, the top 100 Android applications cost $374.37, or an average of $3.74 per application, compared to the $1.47 average on Apple's App Store.
The numbers led Canalys to declare that applications sold on the Android market are "too expensive," and conclude that Apple's "more mature, controlled" digital storefront raises competitiveness and lowers the price of software.
"That developers can apparently charge more for their apps on Android and make it into the top paid list is clearly a positive," said Rachel Lashford, Canalys managing director for Mobile and APAC. "But the reality is that with fewer people willing to purchase apps on Android than on iOS today, there is more of a necessity to do so."
"Developers and publishers need to balance the iOS volume opportunity with a potentially greater value per download opportunity on Android, where more apps command higher price points. Selling more apps at higher prices is the Holy Grail for developers, but achieving big volumes of paid apps on Android is no small challenge."
The survey found that 82 of the top 100 paid applications in the U.S. iPhone App Store are priced at $0.99. In comparison, just 22 of the top 100 on the Android Market are under a dollar.
It's been long established that developers make far more money from Apple's iPhone App Store than they do Google's Android Market.One recent analysis found that iOS applications bring in 300 percent more revenue than their Android counterparts.
Apple revealed in January that it has paid more than $4 billion so far to App Store developers. Sales and earnings have only grown in revenue since the App Store first launched in 2008 as the iPhone has gained in popularity.
Beyond mobile application prices, Canalys also found other key differences between the Apple App Store and Google Android Market. For example, among the top 100 applications listed in both storefronts, only 19 applications appeared in both lists.
"It is clear that apps or games that prove to be runaway successes on the iPhone do not automatically prove to be so popular with Android smartphone users," Canalys Senior Analyst Tim Shepherd said. "Apple's App Store and the Android Market are very different retail environments. The former is now a mature but still very closely controlled retail environment, while the latter remains more open but also less secure and consumer friendly."
Developers have adapted to the differences between the platforms to try to maximize sales. For example, Electronic Arts routinely discounts its iPhone games to give them visibility among the App Store's top 25 list, as visibility is crucial.
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84 Comments
That's hilarious.
So, not only are Android apps inferior compared to the iOS versions, but they're also more expensive! And every major app or game always gets released for iOS first. And many never get released for Android.
So Android people have to wait much longer to get a certain app or game, if they get it at all, and if they do, then they have to pay more for their inferior version. And then on top of all of that, they have to worry about the app or game which they bought working on their particular hardware, as there are hundreds and hundreds of different Android hardware specs out there. It sounds like a freaking nightmare!
I bought Midway Arcade today for 99 cents. Not bad at all. There are some classic, cool games included with the app that I remember playing ages ago. Defender and Joust are two classic games that come to mind.
Is it any wonder people pay for apps less often on Android?
Is it just me, or does this study really say nothing? Just because the top 100 paid apps on android are more expensive than the top 100 paid apps on iOS DOES NOT mean that android apps are on average more expensive. For example, one of the most popular apps on both platforms is angry birds...
However angry birds wouldn't be on the list of androids top 100 paid applications, because the android version is free/ad supported. How many other simple games follow this model?
A valid comparison would be to compare the top 100 applications on each platform (whether free or not), or even better, it would actually compare the price of the SAME application across both platforms.
Considering prior studies have shown that ios users are more likely to accept paying for applications, it's not surprising that ios has FAR more $1 or $2 applications. On android, the developers of these applications can make more money giving them away for free, and collecting ad revenue. Honestly, I'm surprised more ios apps don't follow that approach... at least that way they're not paying a 30% cut to apple.
Phil
Let's not forget that they are probably factoring in support costs too in order to offset the headaches involved in getting their app to work with all the countless different (i.e. "fragmented") versions of Android and the unique hardware running each brand of phone.
Big bag of hurt as far as I'm concerned.
I am not even sure what this is saying? If you are not comparing app for app what are you comparing? As a poster stated earlier, Angry birds on Android is free and add supported while it is a paid app on iOS therefore would not count in this comparison. Plus they are only looking at the Android market, yet there are several places to get apps, I really like Amazon's Android market so I buy from both.