Sales of Android devices are growing, but it's not so easy to make money on it
Distimo, a company engaged in mobile technology market analytics, has published another report on the work of app stores for mobile platforms. This is especially true when you consider that many developers are now striving to create cross-platform applications.
The BlackBerryCool website has repeatedly stated that it is quite profitable to create applications for BlackBerry, although most media outlets hold the opposite view that developers are not interested in developing for this platform. Of course, some stars create profitable iPhone apps, but most of the developed ones bring practically nothing. Many people believe that the Android platform is absolutely not attractive to the average developer: most of the paid applications in the Google Android Market currently have a total of less than 100 downloads. Therefore, despite all the media hype around this mobile platform, unless developers start earning more, Android application development will soon become commercially unviable.
According to Distimo:
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96 apps in the Google Android Market have been downloaded more than 5 million times. The only application that has been downloaded more than 50 million times is Google Maps;
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20% of free and 80% of paid apps in Google Android Market have been downloaded less than 100 times;
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Developers creating apps for Google Android Market find it more difficult to implement their paid products (with a fee for downloading) than developers of the Apple App Store. Only 2 paid Google Android Market apps have been downloaded more than 500,000 times, whereas in the Apple App Store 6 paid apps have been downloaded a similar number of times, and in just 2 months and only in the USA;
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As for games, 5 Google Android Market apps have been downloaded a total of more than 250,000 times. The same number of downloads, but again in just 2 months and only in the USA, achieved 10 Apple App Store apps for iPhone;
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The rating of the most popular apps is updated in the Apple App Store more often than in the Google Andoid Market. For example, in April, 94 apps (both paid and free) were among the ten most popular Apple App Store apps for iPhone in the United States, and only 26 apps were included in the similar list of Google Android Market.
