Here’s an easy way to illustrate what the difference between a good channel and a mediocre channel is.
Reuters reports from Barcelona where Alexandre de Rochefort of game company GameLoft says GameLoft and other game developers are cutting back on making Android games -
“We are selling 400 times more games on iPhone than on Android,” Rochefort said.
On Android nobody is making significant revenue.
400 more times sales. That’s the difference between a Good Channel and a Mediocre Channel.
Even if you take the extreme case that -
- There are 50 million people who buy games for their iPhone.
- There are just 1 million people who buy games for their Android device.
You still get that iPhone owners buy 8 times more games than Android owners. That means that even if Android hypothetically catches up with the iPhone it’ll still be a far inferior channel for selling games.
Android is a channel for People who expect free
Look at all the arguments from people who are pro-Android -
- iPhone makes it really difficult for developers to have freedom.
- Android will be open.
- There is no control over Android.
- iPhone won’t let Google run free voice apps.
These are all people who want things to be open and free. This mentality manifests in every aspect.
It should be no surprise that GameLoft is selling 400 times more games on the iPhone. People on Android just don’t expect to pay.
This is not about right or wrong or favorites – It’s what channel you should choose if you are a content creator who wants to earn money for your efforts.
Why Android is a poor channel for Selling Games
Consider the different factors in play here -
- Open is generally linked to free.
- Google Voice and other apps reduce the amount you pay for calls.
- Google Maps and Free Turn by Turn Navigation means you get GPS for free.
- The more open a platform the tougher to create a defensible revenue stream.
Android will attract people who want open and free or cheap.
They’re just not the type of customers who’ll spend a lot. It’s a channel of mediocre intent.
Consider this comment on Phandroid.com (commenter #6, regarding the GameLoft statement) -
With almost exclusively free apps (paid for 3 and returned 1) on my droid, I’m making my iPhone friends drool and seriously reconsider their choice in phone.
Well thought out freeware beats commercial software 9 times out of 10.
That really is the type of customer going to Droid. People who think freeware beats commercial software 9 times out of 10.
Google’s strategy of Free always looms over Android
Consider GPS navigation –
- For the iPhone some of the top grossing apps are GPS navigation apps.
- For the Android GPS navigation is free.
You could go into Android and create a super viable revenue stream and tomorrow Google might decide that they would rather sell it for free and make money off of advertising.
That’s what they’re doing with Google Voice, Google Real Estate (still under wraps – sort of) and Google Navigation.
There just isn’t the same incentive.
The much-maligned App Store Review process ensures quality control
While Android seems appealing to developers because there is no app approval process, it’s terrible for customers.
The review process might mess up 5-10% of the time and keep out great apps – However, no one is looking out for the 90% to 95% of the time that it keeps out garbage.
The iPhone does quality control that Android just doesn’t have.
iPhone is a channel of good intent
There are lots of filters -
- Apple’s branding is higher end.
- The entry price is high (except the $99 iPhone) and the voice and data plans are pretty high too.
- Apple has created a channel where people buy Apps and buy lots of Apps.
- People are trained to pay for stuff thanks to iTunes.
- The fact that it’s a walled garden keeps open/free people away.
These are all good filters if you want to sell things. People are already paying to get the exclusivity (or illusion of) of Apple.
They are paying for expensive data and voice plans.
At that point $1, $2, and even $10 apps seem reasonable to iPhone owners.
Which developer in their right mind would leave the iPhone to focus on a channel where customers expect free?
Finally, 9 to 5 mac asks - If Droid is selling so well, why are Verizon and Motorola discounting it everywhere? (Dell $120, Amazon $150).
Filed under: apple ibook reader Tagged: | android vs iphone, channel of good intent
I buy games on my G1. However, the games that GameLoft sells aren’t ones I would buy, ever. I wouldn’t even look at them to try. But that’s just me.
Personally, I’m spoiled by my music player – a Zune. Prior to the Zune, I had devices that played Microsoft Plays4Sure WMA, and I had Yahoo Music. Both services filled the same purpose – endless variety of music for one monthly fee, the device only mattered in that it supported the music drm, AND had good to excellent sound quality. Saved me endless hours of ripping and encoding and tagging the 1000+ CD’s I already owned. Things that are near-to-impossible to buy on CD are readily available on Zune.
I have a Kindle (actually, I have purchased 3 kindles, which are still linked to my account – they are for family members.). I purchase (not get for free) 2 to 5 books a month – I don’t know if that’s high or low. I still check out 10 to 20 books a month at the library. I don’t buy near as many dead-tree books anymore.
A Netflix type service for e-books would be a killer application, it just has to apply broadly, and not be limited to one device. I think once there is a critical mass of ebook devices, they’ll figure out a way create a netflix like service to supply ebooks to them. You have to figure Google has already thought of that!
So what is your point here? People who are willing to pay for things that are free elsewhere are Good people, and people who pay for their phone by calling with it are Bad people?
I think what you call ‘Good’ people I call ‘ not so smart’ people. Ergo in my opinion ‘not so smart’ people buy iPhones.
And about the ‘garbage’ software on Android: I guess it is better to let Apple decide what is garbage and what is Good for people? That kind of reminds me of the church hegemony that was so Good to people in the middle ages.
[...] written about how the iPhone is a channel of good intent. Mostly because GameLoft sells 400 times more games for the iPhone than it does for [...]
You must work for Apple, I for one am not a garbage person, and own an android phone, I pay for the apps that I like. The reason that Android doesn’t have the number of Apps that the Iphone has is that the Iphone has been on the market a lot longer than Android has. Give android time and you will see more people choosing Android because of the freedom of choice people will have in their apps compared to what some people deem appropriate for you.
I own a droid, and have paid $1 to $15 for several apps (10-15 of them), including some games. Obviously, I am willing to pay for a good app, but not one that makes obscene noises, has clunky game play (EA’s release of SPORE for instance, which looked equivalent to a bad cell phone game and not the beautiful game produced for the iPhone) or does nothing useful. Furthermore, there is the problem that some publishers seem to specifically ignore the android OS (amazon and BN.com) as a venue for applications that are free on other systems. I would gladly pay for books if I could loan them out to my wife’s nook, but I feel cheated having to have two copies just so I can read one on my phone instead of hauling half a pound of plastic with me. I would, in fact, quite happily pay a few dollars for this app, even though it is free for almost any other smart phone.
Charles, Dell’s Streak Tablet flyers were leaked and they were advertising Kindle for android so there is a chance you might get a Kindle app soon.
I am an android developer and an open software developer, you are absolutely right. You could probably make more money selling an app on the Iphone market. But you had better use their toys and whistles.
You wont get community help there.