Android Market Is Ailing, Requires Care and Feeding, Analysts Say (
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When Google unveiled its Android Market in 2008 as a source of applications
for its open-source operating system for smartphones and other mobile gadgets,
it was pitched as the freewheeling alternative to Apple's more closed and
proprietary iPhone App Store.
The Android Market application count has risen steadily to more than 65,000
programs. But now that hands-off approach and lack of management, accompanied
by some access issues, is causing Google problems.
Software developer Jon Lech Johansen, who built an Android application for
his music synchronization company DoubleTwist, published a blog post June
27 in which he noted that Google does not provide proper care and feeding for
the Android Market.
"Unlike Apple's App Store, the Android Market has few high-quality
apps," Johansen wrote, citing a study from Larva Labs showing that
Apple has paid out 50 times as much money to developers as Google has.
Johansen added, "While the Android Market is available in 46 countries,
developers can only offer paid apps in 13 countries. In addition, the price for
foreign apps is not displayed in the user's local currency and developers do
not have the option of customizing pricing by country.
"To make matters worse, you can't pay for foreign apps using your AmEx
card or carrier billing. There's also no support for in-app payments and
changelogs (to communicate app changes)."
Johansen's biggest complaint was that the channel is full of trademark and
copyright infringement, noting that there are "144 spam ringtone apps (which
are clearly infringing copyright) ... being monetized through Google ads."
As a programmer who wrote a DoubleTwist app for Android, his complaints are
valid. Others can be seen on the Android Market help forum.
Google declined to comment, but industry watchers such as John Battelle and several analysts have taken note.
"Apple focuses on design and customer experience before anything else
and a premium experience you pay for, while Google leads with technology and
the idea that software should be free or close to it," industry analyst
Rob Enderle told eWEEK. "The end result is that Apple has created, at
least initially, a far more successful model, while Google is struggling."
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