Here are some reasons why:<p>1. Poor availability of app store in many countries in the world compared to iPhone<p>2. Ability to purchase apps outside the appstore - I bought an app from an author's website directly, paying by Paypal.<p>3. Fewer actual handsets in use worldwide.
The problem is with the Market application. It's horrible.<p>That being said, I don't have a top 5 app, not even a top 100 app for that matter, but I do make between 50 and 20 dollars a day from it. Better than nothing, and the trend is upward.
This actually makes me want to jump in / its a indicator to me that your not that far behind in the game (getting in early, with the android system) -<p>- I really think it 3-5 years android will be what apple is today; I'm not saying to wait around - but perhaps plan for it.
What prevents a startup from creating an alternative marketplace that accepts all sorts of mainstream payments methods, works within and outside of the US, and doesn't suck? It was my understanding that Android, unlike the iPhone, could install applications from elsewhere.
It's true if you want to make money, develop for the iPhone and not the Android.<p>But if you want to build neat, useful things I'd say in the long run the Android platform will be better.<p>I think Android versus iPhone is kind of an Apples to Oranges comparison. It's like comparing the PC with the Xbox. Sure, you can make a ton of money developing games for the Xbox, but that also means you have to develop games.<p>From what I've read(with some exceptions), the real money made on the iPhone is in developing games.<p>I wouldn't develop for the Android to make money. I would do it to make cool apps that I would use myself and could distribute myself without going through the App store & review process. I think the Android will be the cooler platform to develop for eventually, unless all you care about is making money. In which case make games.
It's all in the number of devices out there. As the number of devices goes up so should the sales.<p>Using google checkout is just plain silly though, buying an application for a phone for the most part would be 'impulse' buys, in which case you want to remove any possible barrier. That's good business sense anyway but for this kind of product it is an absolute must.
If Google is serious about their App Store, and with Google that's always a concern, they should be promoting the platform. Apple is actively highlighting third party apps as a major selling point of the iPhone platform with constant TV commercials showing off some of the best apps. Google's approach to multiple handset vendors already makes the situation confusing to consumers so it's even more important they advertise. A Google commercial showing off 2 or 3 different Android handsets running some third party apps would be a massive boost for the platform and handset makers.<p>Someone pointed out that the Android platform is really starting to feel like "Linux on the desktop" where it's always the next handset, the next OS revision, etc that's going to change everything. The same basic rule applies: If you fall too far behind commercial alternatives you will lose no matter how good your platform is. Personally I think Google's window of opportunity is very small here. If they can't start making some headway the game is over when the iPhone hits Verizon.
I got an HTC Magic recently for development, and the first thing I did was check the App Store (sorry, the Market) - I can't find ANY paid apps, even if I mess around with the buried menu setting mentioned by the article.<p><i>Google checkout only way to buy</i><p>And that could be why - last I checked, Google checkout wasn't available in Canada.
I have 2 apps on AMarket right now, making far to less money to live from them. Only solution is to work as a consultant for bigger players.<p>But still the same model is on App Store, my friend who is independent do the same.<p>Nice thing about Android is that casual users won't even know they are using Android, when smartphones will become standard. And slowly they are becoming.<p>From my perspective, AMarket when GOOG will finally make it usable (2.0 in month) may become really profitable. 3 mln users right now.<p>Also new handhelds look really promising, and if Motorola treats Android as their last resort, well I, as a small fish need to follow bigger players behaviour.
I haven't seen any adverts for Android phones pushing that they have 'Android' as a feature, nor have I seen any adverts for the Android app store. Whereas the iPhone was heavily marketed at normal consumers. It is not surprising that very few people are using the Android store, given that few people know of it's existence.<p>Google and the phone makers are playing the game very differently to Apple. I think it's going to be a long time before I could claim Android is a failure, it's still very early days for the project.
Give Android Market some time. Recall iTunes was hugely successful before the iPhone came out. Also purchasing music for an iPod is almost identical to purchasing an app for the iPhone (relatively small price for a relatively small item). So App Store just has a huge lead. Doesn't imply Android won't catch up. After all compare Apple vs MS today to Apple vs MS 10-15 years ago.
I think comparing 'Android Marketplace' with Apple's 'App Store' is somewhat comparing 'apples with oranges'. Android doesn't require all apps to go through their marketplace so you would expect less downloads per user. Android could flourish without any centralised marketplace. Desktop OS's certainly have.