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Marketplace Comparison

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Date: November 29, 2010

Research Note #4

Mobile Application Markets:

Apple vs. Google vs. Nokia

Competition with Apple! ! begins to mature
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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OviStore,AndroidMarket,andAppStore:aComparison

November2010

EXECUTIVESUMMARY:

Thepastthreemonthshavemarkedsomeimportantmilestonesforthethree

primarymobileapplicationmarkets,OviStore,AppStoreandAndroidMarket.

WhileNokiawasbusylaunchingarevampedOviStorefordevelopersandauser

baseapproaching140millionusersinmorethan190Countries,AndroidMarket

passedthe100,000apppointandbecometheNo.2operatingsystemaccounting

for25.5percentofworldwidesmartphonesalesaccordingtoGartner.

GoogleisstillbehindApplewhenitcomestomobileapplications(therearenow

over300,000applicationsintheAppStore,withpaidappsavailablein90

Countries).However,asrevenuesandoverallsatisfactionwithOviStorecontinue

todecreaseandtheAppStorebecomesovercrowded,Androidisbecomingan

attractivealternativefordevelopers.

Ourresearchallowedustoidentifynotonlysigniicantdifferencesin

satisfaction,revenuesandissues,butalsocommoncriticalitemsthatdevelopersconsiderprioritiestobeaddressedinordertobeneitboththemandtheirend-

users.Theseincludetheabilitytorespondtousercommentsandbugreportsin

thestore,betterpromotionanddistributiontoolsandbettersearchcapabilities,

andimprovedpublishingprocesswhilemaintainingacertainlevelofquality

control.

http://open-first.com - Open-First August, 2010
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METHODOLOGY:

BetweenSeptemberandNovember2010,Open-Firstconductedthreesurveysondeveloper

satisfactionwiththethreeprimarymobileapplicationmarkets,AndroidMarket,OviStore,and

AppStore.

Over300mobileapplicationsdevelopersandpublishersrespondedtoanonlinequestionnaire

includingmultiplechoiceandopenquestionspertainingtheirexperiencewiththestores.

Respondentswerefoundthroughasearchfortopsellingandtopfreeapplicationsavailableon

AndroidMarket,OviStore,andAppStoreforvariousdevices.Theindingsofthesesurveysare

representativeofasampleofappdevelopersandpublishersacrossEurope,Asia,America,andAustralia.

Thesurveysfocusedoniveareas:

PublishingExperience

SupportandResourcesAvailabletoDevelopersandEnd-Users

Revenues

OverallSatisfaction

ComparisontoOtherAppStores

Thisreportsummarizesindingsofthethreesurveys,highlightingsimilaritiesaswellas

differences.

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RESEARCHFINDINGS:

QualityReviewProcessforApplicationsSubmittedtotheStore

Inspiteoftheirlargesuccessintermsofappsdistributed,AppStoreandOviStoreare

somehowinfamousfortheirslowandattimesinconsistentapplicationapprovalprocess.Our

indingsshowthat39percentofiPhonedevelopersaresomehowunhappywiththe

turnaroundtimeforqualityapproval.ForNokiadevelopersthispercentageisupto47percent.

AndroidMarketoffersanalternativetothismodel.Googledoesntscreenappsbeforetheycan

reachthestorebutleavesittotheuserstodecidewhatappsaregoodandwhatarent.Sowhile

foranewappittakesonlyafewminutestogetuptoAndroidMarket,thistakesafewdaysin

theAppStoreandupto2-3weeksinOviStore.

Moreover,unlikeinotherstorefronts,Googledoesnotchargedeveloperstodistributetheir

appsonAndroidMarket,makingiteveneasierandquickerfordeveloperstoseetheirapps

immediatelyavailabletousers.

http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://www.newsden.net/download-angry-birds-full-version-for-android-for-free-4199/http://www.newsden.net/download-angry-birds-full-version-for-android-for-free-4199/


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OurstudyhowevershowedthatnotallAndroiddeveloperswelcomethisfreedom.While58

percentofthemthinkthelackofapprovalprocessmakesthestorefrontevenmoreattractive,

25percentofthemthinktheintroductionofsomecentralizedqualityreviewwouldrepresent

animprovementtotheaveragequalityofthestore.



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SupporttoDevelopersandEnd-Users

Whenaskedwhatresourcesfordeveloperstheyinduseful,themajorityofAndroiddevelopers

indicatedtechnicalarticles,tutorialsandsamplecodeasthebestresourcesavailabletothem.ThepreferenceofNokiadeveloperswenttoDiscussionBoards.

Bothtechnicalandpublishingsupportwereratedastheworstsupportresourcesbyaquarter

ofNokia,Android,andiPhonedevelopers.Themainissuetheyseemtohaveisthedificultyto

reachsomeonetheycantalkto.

Ourindingsalsoshowthat,accordingtodevelopers,theAppStoreoffersthebestsupportto

end-users(40percentofiPhonedevelopersthinkthesupportingood).OurNovember

DeveloperSatisfactionSurveyforAndroidMarket,ontheotherhand,showedthat35percent

ofAndroiddevelopersareunhappywiththesupportprovidedbyGoogletotheirend-users.

Thisismostlyrelatedtothefactthatfrequentdownloadandpaymentproblemsoccurand

Googledoesntprovideadequatesupportduringthisprocess.

Aboutaquarterofsurveyeddevelopersarenotexactlyawareofthekindandlevelofsupport

providedtoend-usersofthethreestorefronts.Apercentagebetween20and30percentof

remainingdeveloperssaidtheyreneutraltowardit.



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SpeciicIssuesEncounteredbyPublishersandDevelopers

Somecommonissuesandconcernsthatemergedfromallthreesurveysare:

Slowandinconsistentapplicationapprovalprocess(forNokiaandiPhonedevelopers)

Inabilitytorespondtouserreviewsandcomments inthestore(especiallyinAndroid

MarketandtheAppStore)

Stores(AndroidMarketandOviStoreinparticular)werecriticizedbydevelopersfor

havingpoorsearchcapabilitiesandacumbersomeuser/publisherinterface

Inadequatevisibilityandpromotionopportunitiesforapplicationsinthestores

BadtechnicalandpublishingandpoorcommunicationeffortsthatNokia,Googleand

Appleareshowingtodevelopers

Badreportingofsale,revenues,installations,andotherdatacriticaltodevelopers.

Somespeciicissuesthatrepresentconcernsonlyforsomedevelopersinclude:

Seriousissueswiththedownload,installationandpaymentofapplicationsinAndroid

Market,worsenedbyunclearerrorreportingandsupport

Badhandling,intheiPhoneAppStore,ofbusinesssupportandlackoftransparency

overpolicychangesandotherdecisionsthataffectdevelopersbusiness

LackofpiracypreventioninOviStore.



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RevenuesandRevenueExpectations

Accordingtoourindings,abouthalfofiPhonedevelopersaremakingMOREmoneythanthey

hadanticipatedbysellingappsoniTunes.ThepercentageofiPhonedeveloperswhoaremakinglessmoneythanexpectedislessthanathird.

ForNokiadeveloperstheseresultsarentasexciting:only1percentofthemsaidtheyre

makingmorethanexpectedonOvi,while69percentaremakingLESSthananticipated.

AndroidMarketishalfwayintermsofrevenuesandexpectations:athirdisearningmorethan

expected,athirdisearninglessthanexpectedandathirdismakingaboutasmuchasexpected.

Androiddeveloperswhoserevenuesarelowerthanexpectationsthinkthemainreasonsfor

theirdisappointmentareboththepoorpaymenthandlingsystemandthefactthattherearent

enoughpaymentoptions.TheyalsothinkGooglehasbeenbuildingacultureoffree,making

userslesswillingtopayforappsthanotherusers(e.g.iPhoneusers).

Acrossallstorefronts,anothermainreasonforlowrevenueswasidentiiedinthepoor

discoverability(e.g.badsearchcapabilities,limitednumberofappcategories)andvisibility

(e.g.restrictiononthelengthofappdescription,lackofpromotionaltools,unclearranking

criteria)ofapplicationsinthestores.



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OurresearchstudyshowedthatoverthelastthreemonthsthepercentageofAndroid

developerswhoserevenuesareexceedingexpectationsincreasedby5percentagepoints,while

thepercentageofNokiadeveloperswhoserevenuesareexceedingexpectationsdecreasedby4

percentagepoints.



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OverallSatisfaction

Accordingtoourindings,developersatisfactionwiththeiPhoneAppStoreisthehighest(78

percent)whilesatisfactionwithOviStoreisthelowest(50percent).ResultsforAndroid

MarketweresimilartothosefortheAppStore,with73percentofdeveloperssayingtheyre

overallsatisiedwiththestore.

OurresearchstudyshowedthatoverthelastthreemonthsoverallsatisfactionwithAndroid

Markethasincreasedby10percentagepointswhileoverallsatisfactionwithOviStore

remainedaboutthesame.

IntentiontoRemainintheStore

Findingsfromthisquestionareinlinewithindingsfromthequestion,Howsatisiedareyou,

overall,withthisstore?

99percentofiPhonedeveloperssaidtheyplanonremaininginthestoreandnoneofthemare

planningonleavingthestore.93percentofAndroiddevelopersareplanningonremainingin

thestoreand1percentofthemareplanningonleaving.



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ResultsfromourOctober2010DeveloperSatisfactionSurveyshowsthatwhile76percentof

developerscurrentlyonOviStoreareplanningonstaying,6percentareplanningonleaving

and18percentareundecided.

Ourindingsshowthatoverthelastthreemonthsthepercentageofrespondentswhosaidthey

wouldstopdistributingtheirappsviaOviStoreincreasedfrom3%to6%.Thesedevelopersare

mainlydisappointedwithrevenuesandarelookingatAndroidMarketasanalternative.



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ComparisontoOtherMobileAppStorefronts

63percentofalldeveloperswesurveyedexpressedapreferencefortheAppStoreoverOviand

AndroidMarket.ThispreferenceisbasedoneitherexperienceorbeliefthattheAppStoreoffersbetterearningopportunitiesbecauseofitspopularityamongmobileusers,itsfunctional

andintuitiveinterfaceandiPhoneuserspropensitytospendmoneyonapplications.

27percentofrespondentsexpressedapreferenceforAndroidMarketand10percent

expressedapreferenceforOviStore.WhatmakesAndroidMarketapreferredchoice

(especiallyforcurrentOviStorepublishers)istheabsenceofanapprovalprocess,whichmakes

itanattractivealternativetoOvisslowapprovalprocessforapplicationssubmittedtothe

store.



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SuggestionsforImprovement

Someimprovementsthatalldevelopersacrossthethreestoressuggestedare:

Somewayfordeveloperstocommunicatewithend-users(e.g.Theabilitytorespondto

usercommentsandbugreportsinthestore)

Betterreporting(e.g.Statisticsandalertsoninstallations,un-installations,

demographics,salesbyCountry,etc)

Helpwiththepromotionanddistributionofapps(e.g.Longerappdescriptionandmore

screenshotsallowed,in-appadvertisingprograms,additionofmultiplelevelsof

categorization,freetrialsforapps)

Bettersupporttodevelopersonbothpublishingandtechnicalissues

Bettersearchfunction

Improvedpublishingprocesswhilemaintainingthelevelofqualitycontrolfor

publishedapps.

SpeciicrequestsmadebypublishersontheAndroidMarketaretheresolutionofissueswith

downloadsandpayments,theintroductionofmorepaymentmethods(e.g.Paypal),andbetter

supportforend-users.

AppStoreandOvipublisherswouldlikeafasterandmoreconsistentqualityreviewprocess

andAppStorepublisherswouldlikeAppletoadoptamoretransparentcommunicationlow

allowingbetterbusinesssupport.



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