Amazon Appstore has not been the most attractive market place for developers. We’ve heard complaints about the store still being limited only to the U.S., unfair payment practices, and not providing the same development tools that are available in Google Play. However, according to Flurry Analytics, Amazon is supplying some developers with something the Play Store doesn’t – money.
Android developers whose business models rely on in-app purchases are far more successful in the Amazon Appstore as they are in Google Play. Almost four times as success according to a recent report from the analytics company.
Flurry reached this conclusion by looking at developers who have apps in stores runs by Apple, Amazon, and Google. By looking at the top ranked apps with a “similar presence” across networks, Flurry determined that Google Play lags just as far behind iTunes as it did during the same period last year (only 24 percent of the revenues earned in iTunes). But it also found that Google is severely lacking behind its Android cousin in Amazon. Take a look at this chart.
The data should be taken with a grain of salt because Flurry says it measured only the top apps with a presence across all three platforms, so that instantly raises questions about the reliability of the sample size and results. Flurry measured only 45 days from mid January to the end of February, a period in which Amazon was still enjoying the post-holiday high of massive tablet sales. Perhaps a rush of new customers might have influenced the numbers in its favor, but there’s still an incredibly large gap between the two market places.
Despite the complaints developers have for the Amazon Appstore, these numbers would suggest that those who rely on in-app purchases might be tempted to grit their teeth and deal with the nuisance. (In-app purchases are typically associated with games that unlock special features or items used to enhance gameplay for a fee.) Flurry suggests that’s exactly what might happen because money is a motivator for developers. If an independent developer has limited resources and plays to rely on an in-app freemium model, which app store do you think they’ll support? The one with a bigger payday most likely.
