Professional Documents
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Marketplace Comparison
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The
past
three
months
have
marked
some
important
milestones
for
the
three
primary
mobile
application
markets,
Ovi
Store,
App
Store
and
Android
Market.
While
Nokia
was
busy
launching
a
revamped
Ovi
Store
for
developers
and
a
user
base
approaching
140
million
users
in
more
than
190
Countries,
Android
Market
passed
the
100,000
app
point
and
become
the
No.
2
operating
system
accounting
for
25.5
percent
of
worldwide
smartphone
sales
according
to
Gartner.
Google
is
still
behind
Apple
when
it
comes
to
mobile
applications
(there
are
now
over
300,000
applications
in
the
App
Store,
with
paid
apps
available
in
90
Countries).
However,
as
revenues
and
overall
satisfaction
with
Ovi
Store
continue
to
decrease
and
the
App
Store
becomes
overcrowded,
Android
is
becoming
an
attractive
alternative
for
developers.
Our
research
allowed
us
to
identify
not
only
signiMicant
differences
in
satisfaction,
revenues
and
issues,
but
also
common
critical
items
that
developers
consider
priorities
to
be
addressed
in
order
to
beneMit
both
them
and
their
end-‐
users.
These
include
the
ability
to
respond
to
user
comments
and
bug
reports
in
the
store,
better
promotion
and
distribution
tools
and
better
search
capabilities,
and
improved
publishing
process
while
maintaining
a
certain
level
of
quality
control.
Between
September
and
November
2010,
Open-‐First
conducted
three
surveys
on
developer
satisfaction
with
the
three
primary
mobile
application
markets,
Android
Market,
Ovi
Store,
and
App
Store.
Over
300
mobile
applications
developers
and
publishers
responded
to
an
online
questionnaire
including
multiple
choice
and
open
questions
pertaining
their
experience
with
the
stores.
Respondents
were
found
through
a
search
for
top
selling
and
top
free
applications
available
on
Android
Market,
Ovi
Store,
and
App
Store
for
various
devices.
The
Mindings
of
these
surveys
are
representative
of
a
sample
of
app
developers
and
publishers
across
Europe,
Asia,
America,
and
Australia.
Publishing Experience
Revenues
Overall Satisfaction
This
report
summarizes
Mindings
of
the
three
surveys,
highlighting
similarities
as
well
as
differences.
In
spite
of
their
large
success
in
terms
of
apps
distributed,
App
Store
and
Ovi
Store
are
somehow
infamous
for
their
slow
and
at
times
inconsistent
application
approval
process.
Our
Mindings
show
that
39
percent
of
iPhone
developers
are
somehow
unhappy
with
the
turnaround
time
for
quality
approval.
For
Nokia
developers
this
percentage
is
up
to
47
percent.
Android
Market
offers
an
alternative
to
this
model.
Google
doesn’t
screen
apps
before
they
can
reach
the
store
but
leaves
it
to
the
users
to
decide
what
apps
are
good
and
what
aren’t.
So
while
for
a
new
app
it
takes
only
a
few
minutes
to
get
up
to
Android
Market,
this
takes
a
few
days
in
the
App
Store
and
up
to
2-‐3
weeks
in
Ovi
Store.
Moreover,
unlike
in
other
storefronts,
Google
does
not
charge
developers
to
distribute
their
apps
on
Android
Market,
making
it
even
easier
and
quicker
for
developers
to
see
their
apps
immediately
available
to
users.
When
asked
what
resources
for
developers
they
Mind
useful,
the
majority
of
Android
developers
indicated
technical
articles,
tutorials
and
sample
code
as
the
best
resources
available
to
them.
The
preference
of
Nokia
developers
went
to
Discussion
Boards.
Both
technical
and
publishing
support
were
rated
as
the
worst
support
resources
by
a
quarter
of
Nokia,
Android,
and
iPhone
developers.
The
main
issue
they
seem
to
have
is
the
difMiculty
to
reach
someone
they
can
talk
to.
Our
Mindings
also
show
that,
according
to
developers,
the
App
Store
offers
the
best
support
to
end-‐users
(40
percent
of
iPhone
developers
think
the
support
in
good).
Our
November
Developer
Satisfaction
Survey
for
Android
Market,
on
the
other
hand,
showed
that
35
percent
of
Android
developers
are
unhappy
with
the
support
provided
by
Google
to
their
end-‐users.
This
is
mostly
related
to
the
fact
that
frequent
download
and
payment
problems
occur
and
Google
doesn’t
provide
adequate
support
during
this
process.
About
a
quarter
of
surveyed
developers
are
not
exactly
aware
of
the
kind
and
level
of
support
provided
to
end-‐users
of
the
three
storefronts.
A
percentage
between
20
and
30
percent
of
remaining
developers
said
they’re
“neutral”
toward
it.
Some common issues and concerns that emerged from all three surveys are:
• Slow and inconsistent application approval process (for Nokia and iPhone developers)
• Inability
to
respond
to
user
reviews
and
comments
in
the
store
(especially
in
Android
Market
and
the
App
Store)
• Stores
(Android
Market
and
Ovi
Store
in
particular)
were
criticized
by
developers
for
having
poor
search
capabilities
and
a
cumbersome
user/publisher
interface
• Inadequate visibility and promotion opportunities for applications in the stores
• Bad
technical
and
publishing
and
poor
communication
efforts
that
Nokia,
Google
and
Apple
are
showing
to
developers
• Bad reporting of sale, revenues, installations, and other data critical to developers.
Some speciMic issues that represent concerns only for some developers include:
• Serious
issues
with
the
download,
installation
and
payment
of
applications
in
Android
Market,
worsened
by
unclear
error
reporting
and
support
• Bad
handling,
in
the
iPhone
App
Store,
of
business
support
and
lack
of
transparency
over
policy
changes
and
other
decisions
that
affect
developers’
business
According
to
our
Mindings,
about
half
of
iPhone
developers
are
making
MORE
money
than
they
had
anticipated
by
selling
apps
on
iTunes.
The
percentage
of
iPhone
developers
who
are
making
less
money
than
expected
is
less
than
a
third.
For
Nokia
developers
these
results
aren’t
as
exciting:
only
1
percent
of
them
said
they’re
making
more
than
expected
on
Ovi,
while
69
percent
are
making
LESS
than
anticipated.
Android
Market
is
half
way
in
terms
of
revenues
and
expectations:
a
third
is
earning
more
than
expected,
a
third
is
earning
less
than
expected
and
a
third
is
making
about
as
much
as
expected.
Android
developers
whose
revenues
are
lower
than
expectations
think
the
main
reasons
for
their
disappointment
are
both
the
poor
payment
handling
system
and
the
fact
that
there
aren’t
enough
payment
options.
They
also
think
Google
has
been
building
a
“culture
of
free,”
making
users
less
willing
to
pay
for
apps
than
other
users
(e.g.
iPhone
users).
Across
all
storefronts,
another
main
reason
for
low
revenues
was
identiMied
in
the
poor
discoverability
(e.g.
bad
search
capabilities,
limited
number
of
app
categories)
and
visibility
(e.g.
restriction
on
the
length
of
app
description,
lack
of
promotional
tools,
unclear
ranking
criteria)
of
applications
in
the
stores.
According
to
our
Mindings,
developer
satisfaction
with
the
iPhone
App
Store
is
the
highest
(78
percent)
while
satisfaction
with
Ovi
Store
is
the
lowest
(50
percent).
Results
for
Android
Market
were
similar
to
those
for
the
App
Store,
with
73
percent
of
developers
saying
they’re
overall
satisMied
with
the
store.
Our
research
study
showed
that
over
the
last
three
months
overall
satisfaction
with
Android
Market
has
increased
by
10
percentage
points
while
overall
satisfaction
with
Ovi
Store
remained
about
the
same.
Findings
from
this
question
are
in
line
with
Mindings
from
the
question,
“How
satisMied
are
you,
overall,
with
this
store?”
99
percent
of
iPhone
developers
said
they
plan
on
remaining
in
the
store
and
none
of
them
are
planning
on
leaving
the
store.
93
percent
of
Android
developers
are
planning
on
remaining
in
the
store
and
1
percent
of
them
are
planning
on
leaving.
Our
Mindings
show
that
over
the
last
three
months
the
percentage
of
respondents
who
said
they
would
stop
distributing
their
apps
via
Ovi
Store
increased
from
3%
to
6%.
These
developers
are
mainly
disappointed
with
revenues
and
are
looking
at
Android
Market
as
an
alternative.
63
percent
of
all
developers
we
surveyed
expressed
a
preference
for
the
App
Store
over
Ovi
and
Android
Market.
This
preference
is
based
on
either
experience
or
belief
that
the
App
Store
offers
better
earning
opportunities
because
of
its
popularity
among
mobile
users,
its
functional
and
intuitive
interface
and
iPhone
users’
propensity
to
spend
money
on
applications.
27
percent
of
respondents
expressed
a
preference
for
Android
Market
and
10
percent
expressed
a
preference
for
Ovi
Store.
What
makes
Android
Market
a
preferred
choice
(especially
for
current
Ovi
Store
publishers)
is
the
absence
of
an
approval
process,
which
makes
it
an
attractive
alternative
to
Ovi’s
slow
approval
process
for
applications
submitted
to
the
store.
Some improvements that all developers across the three stores suggested are:
• Some
way
for
developers
to
communicate
with
end-‐users
(e.g.
The
ability
to
respond
to
user
comments
and
bug
reports
in
the
store)
• Help
with
the
promotion
and
distribution
of
apps
(e.g.
Longer
app
description
and
more
screenshots
allowed,
in-‐app
advertising
programs,
addition
of
multiple
levels
of
categorization,
free
trials
for
apps)
• Better support to developers on both publishing and technical issues
• Improved
publishing
process
while
maintaining
the
level
of
quality
control
for
published
apps.
SpeciMic
requests
made
by
publishers
on
the
Android
Market
are
the
resolution
of
issues
with
downloads
and
payments,
the
introduction
of
more
payment
methods
(e.g.
Paypal),
and
better
support
for
end-‐users.
App
Store
and
Ovi
publishers
would
like
a
faster
and
more
consistent
quality
review
process
and
App
Store
publishers
would
like
Apple
to
adopt
a
more
transparent
communication
Mlow
allowing
better
business
support.
CONTACT US:
Open-First
695 High Street
Palo Alto, CA 94301
mobilereports@open-first.com