With notebook and tablet manufacturers blaming a lack of applications for weak sales of the first generation Android tablets, Russell Berry, MD of AppCreatives.co.uk a leading UK producer of mobile applications wonders why there are so few Android 3.0 specific apps and whether this is entirely to blame for poor sales?
Notebook and tablet manufacturers believe that a lack of applications on Android 3.0 is the reason for weak sales of the first generation of tablets according to a DigiTimes report.
The massive collection of Android 2.x applications was initially thought to be an asset, but most of them subsequently turned out to be incompatible. The lack of Android 3.0 specific applications had “significantly lagged” the market for Android hardware according to the manufacturers quoted by the DigiTimes.
The Appeal Of The Android App
The promise of Google’s Android Market was that it would be dramatically different than Apple’s approach to distributing mobile software. Google created a transparent “Market” rather than a “Store”, with an open platform (with no approval process, a la Apple’s App Store), for developers to enter the market seamlessly.
Additionally, there are far more developers who are capable of applying their existing Java skill sets to creating applications in Android’s Java-based environment than in Apple’s CocoaTouch environment. With all the promise that the Android market offered, why then are there so few apps?
But Reality Though…
Majority of paid apps on Android clock less than 100 downloads. A report from Distimo found that 20% of all free apps and 80% of all paid apps have been downloaded fewer than 100 times on the Google Android Market worldwide to date.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, 96 apps have been downloaded more than 5 million times in the Android Market, with Google Maps achieving 50 million +.
It’s not easy to make money from paid Android apps.
Some blame the billing system, others blame the lack of discovery features, and some even suggest that Google has a deliberate strategy of marginalising paid apps in order to force developers to make their apps free and advertising-funded.
But Are Lack of Apps Entirely to Blame?
Whilst it is still early days for Android tablets, and yes, a lack of applications will make it hard to sell an Android tablet, everyone wants an iPad and while there is a curiosity around Android tablets most consumers are buying iPads.
Nvidia CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang has suggested, that most Android manufacturers have been struggling to market their Android tablets and that they had no clear point of difference when compared to what was on offer from Apple.
Most think pricing is part of the issue. Nvidia’s Huang pointed out that that launching with 3G-only left no room to compete with Apple’s aggressively priced Wi-Fi-only iPad.
Android Apps – The Future
With industry insiders of the view that the real tablet battle would begin in the second half of 2011 with the second generation of Android 3.1 tablets, app developers must be looking to follow suit with a host of Android 3.0 apps.
Google have been busy working on a number of improvements to help mobile developers; these include new country-specific charts, Editor’s Choice picks, a special icon for so-called Top Developers to help them stand out on the store, improved suggestions for related apps when someone is browsing the store, and a section to show currently trending apps.
Android has the potential to be a much more lucrative platform for paid apps, alongside its undoubted strength for free apps, and now is the time for developers to be setting their sights on this market.
About the Author
Russell Berry is Director of AppCreatives, a fast growing SME that offers mobile/PDA application solutions that help organisations communicate with their customers through custom mobile devices. Leveraging our industry intelligence and technological background, we design and build mobile applications that are customer-friendly and facilitate easy and quick data processing.
For more information please see http://www.appcreatives.co.uk
