Android-August

8/8/2019 Android-August

1/7

Developer Satisfaction

For details on subscribing to our monthly report please

contact [email protected]

Date: August 23, 2010

Developer Satisfaction Survey #2

Mobile Application Markets:

Report #2 - Android Marketplace

Android Marketplace:Easily Resolved Issues?
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


2/7

MOBILE APPLICATION MARKETS: DEVELOPER SATISFACTION

Android Marketplace: Easily Resolved Issues?

Report #2 in an ongoing series of developer satisfaction surveys.

SUMMARY

With the fastest growing smart phone user population in the world, a growing list of devices

from multiple manufacturers, and increasing number of mobile operators promoting the

platform, why should top Google Android developers have anything to complain about? Yet

in our first quarterly satisfaction survey developers expressed unhappiness about the

support they are receiving, how hard it is for customers to find their applications in the store,

and in total revenue earned.

To be sure, Googles developers are much happier than those we surveyed last month

using Nokias Ovi Store (see our separate research note;Android Marketplace and Ovi

Store Head to Head). Google has done many things well and developers are generally

happy with the way the store functions, happy with the app submissions process, and with

the reports they receive from Google. As a result, Android is second only to Apple in total

applications and in the number of active developers.

But there are a set of issues that Google could easily address that would quickly increase

the success of top developers in building and selling applications to Android users. Doing so

would increase developers focus on Android -- currently mindshare of even these top

developers is shared with Apple. It would also encourage more of the top developers from

other platforms to move to Android rather than iPhone.

Number one amongst developer complaints is that the store has filled with low quality

applications, making it difficult for good applications to be discovered by customers. A

dramatic change in the way Google highlights its best developers and applications isneeded for Android Marketplace to achieve the level of satisfaction that top iPhone

developers feel toward the Apple App Store.

Improvements in developer support and communication are also needed if Android

Marketplace will replace Apples AppStore as the top mobile applications marketplace.

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


3/7

METHODOLOGY:

The findings presented in this report are taken from a survey conducted between July 15

and August 20, 2010. During this time, 118 Android Market publishers agreed to respond to

a questionnaire about their own experience with the Android application marketplace. Thequestionnaire consisted of 13 multiple-choice questions and 6 essay questions.

Out of the total number of surveys completed, 23 were conducted over the phone, while the

others were conducted by asking publishers to fill out an online questionnaire.

The respondents to this survey were not randomly selected but were found through a

search for top paid Android apps for all Android devices. About 500 developers were

identified through this process. Participating developers are representative of a sample of

top app developers and publishers across Europe, Asia and America.

The survey focused on the participants experience with Android Market and covered four

areas:

1. Publishing process

- How satisfied are they with the registration process in Android Market?- How satisfied are they with the content submission process and content editing

process in Android Market?

- How satisfied are they with the quality filtering process in Android Market?2. Support

- How satisfied are they with the support provided to Android Market publishers?- How satisfied are they with the support provided to Android Market end users?- What resources for developers do they find helpful?- What specific problems have they encountered with Android Market?- Out of all the support inquiries they receive from end users, how many are

related to a problem with Android Market?

- What are some common support inquiries they receive?3. Revenues

- Are they earning more or less money than they had expected, and why?- How satisfied are they with the reports and metrics downloadable from Android

Market?



4/7

4. Comparison with other app stores

- How satisfied are they, overall, with Android Market?- How do the other app stores compare, in their opinion, to Android Market, and

why?

- How important is it for them to publish apps specifically on the Android Market?- Will they use Android Market again to publish their apps?- What could Google do, in their opinion, to improve Android Market?

HOW TO GET THIS REPORT:

There are three ways to get the full copy of the report:

1. Be one of our survey respondents! Each month we contact hundreds of developers to

participate in our surveys. We draw our list from the marketplaces themselves --

contacting companies identified by the marketplace as top selling and top downloaded

applications. For about 15 minutes of your time you can help improve our survey and

receive a full copy for your own use.

2. Purchase an individual report -- Each report is $2,500 in the first month it is issued,

reduced to $1,250 in the two months following, and then just $500 once we have

published the next quarterly updated report.3. Become a research subscriber and receive every report immediately upon release,

access our knowledgeable research team, and have us ask custom questions for you as

we speak to hundreds of mobile application developers each month -- talk to us about

structuring a research program that works for you!

CONTACT: [email protected]

http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


5/7

SURVEY CONTENTS:

SAMPLECONTENT:

12.Areyouearningmoreorlessmoneythanyouhadexpectedbysellingyourappson

AndroidMarket?Why?

110developersrepliedtothisqueson.49%ofthemsaidtheyreearninglessthanexpectedon

AndroidMarket,while27%ofthemaremakingmoremoneythantheythoughttheywouldmake.

Thosewhoarehappywiththeirsalessaidtheydidntexpecttheirapplicaontobesopopularand

tohavesomanydownloads.OnedeveloperascribesthistothegrowingpopularityofAndroid.

ThosewhoareunhappywiththemoneytheyremakingbysellingtheirappsonAndroidMarket

blameitonboththewaythemarketplaceworksandthegeneralaItudeofAndroidusers.n

parcular,developersseemtothinkthatthelackofqualitycontrolscausesthemarkettobe

cluKeredwithlowqualityappswhilenovisibilityoponsaregiventohighqualityapplicaons.

DevelopersarealsounhappywiththerangsystemforapplicaonsinAndroidMarketandsome

feellikeveryliKleexplanaonisgivenastohowthissystemworks.SoNwarepiracyandthefactthat

Androidusersarenotwillingtopayalotforapplicaons(especiallyifcomparedtoiPhoneusers)

makesitalsohardfordeveloperstocoverthecostsofdevelopinghighqualityapplicaonsthat

cannotbechargedasmuchastheyshouldbecauseofthecompeonofworse,lowcostapps.



6/7

FrequentcomparisonsaremadewiththeAppleappmarket.Developerssellingthesame

applicaoninbothmarketsseemtobemakingmoremoneyintheAppleAppStore.

TextResponse

ANDROIDMARKETISSUES

AndroidseemstoaKractopensourcedevelopersresulnginmorefreeappsmakingthepaidapps

lessaKracvetocustomers.

Thereisalackofhighqualitycontentsothemarketisfailingtodrawusers.

Veryunclearrangsystem.

Lackofpaymentopons(e.g.lackofcarrierbilling).

Themarkethastoomanyspamappsforqualityappstogetnoced.

Limitedvisibilityoponsfordevelopers.

TheAndroidMarketisterriblefrommarkengperspecve.otenoughspacefordescripons,

screenshots,etc.ThemarketneedsbeKercategoriesandsubcategoriesandabeKersearch.

AndroidMarketsllyoungcomparedtotheiPhonemarket.

DifficulesofseIngupacheckoutaccountandpurchasinginforeigncurrencies.

Theappstorefrontdoesnotgiveagoodexperiencetocustomers.iTunesstorefronthasreviews,

rangs,infoetc.whichgiveamuchbeKeruserexperience.

Badreviewspostedbycompetors;overalllowpriceofapps.

Toofewsupportedcountries.

SoNwarepiracy.

Someuserswon'tbeabletofindtheapponthemarketforAndroid2.1orotherversions.ATTITUDEOFANDROIDUSERS

LotsofusersexpectfreeapplicaonsbecauseAndroidisopensource.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FULLLISTOFTOPICS:

1.Howmanyappshaveyoufullydevelopedand/orpublishedtoAndroidMarket?

2.PriortopublishingsoftwareontheAndroidMarket,publishersmustcreateadeveloper

proBileandpayaregistrationfee.Howdoyouratethisprocess?

3.OnceyouhavecreatedadeveloperproBile,youcanstartpublishingnewcontent.Howdoyou

ratethisprocess?

4.HowsatisBiedareyouwiththecontentapprovalprocessforappssubmittedforpublishing?

http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/


7/7

5.HowdoyouratethesupportprovidedtoyouwhileusingAndroidMarket?

6.AndroidprovidesaResource stabfordevelopers.Whichresourceshave

7.Whichotherresourceshaveyoufoundhelpful?

8.WhatspeciBicproblemshaveyouencounteredwhileusingAndroidMarket?

9.Outofallthesupportinquiriesthatyoureceive,whatsthepercentageofinquiriesrelatedto

aproblemwithAndroidMarket,encounteredbysomeonetryingtopurchaseoruseyour

software?

10.What'sthemostcommonsupportinquirythatyoureceivefrompotentialorexisting

customersonAndroidMarket?

11.TheAndroidMarketHelpForumhostswebDiscussionoardsdesignedtosupport

developers.Howdoyouratetheseforums?

12.AreyouearningmoreorlessmoneythanyouhadexpectedbysellingyourappsonAndroid

Market?Why?

13.Androidpublishershaveaccesstoreportsoftotaldownloads,activeinstalls,user

comments,anduserreportedcrashesanderrors.Howdoyouratethesereports?

14.HowsatisBiedareyou,overall,withAndroidMarket?

15.Ifyouhaveanyexperiencewithotherappstores,howdoyouthinktheycompareto

AndroidMarket?

16.HowareotherappstoresbetterorworsethanAndroidMarket?

17.HowimportantisitforyoutopublishappsspeciBicallyontheAndroidMarket?

18.WillyouusetheAndroidMarketagaintopublishyourapps?

19.WhatcouldGoogledo,inyouropinion,toimprovetheAndroidMarket?

CONTACT US:

Open-First

695 High Street

Palo Alto, CA 94301

[email protected]

http://open first com Open-First August 2010
mailto:[email protected]://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

Android-August

Documents

Transcript of Android-August