October 24, 2008

Android Market Fees

Last month, Google said that Android Market is a key component for all mobile phones that run Android. "We made a strategic decision not to revenue share with the developers. We will basically pass through any revenue to the carrier or the developer."

Android Market is now live, but developers can't upload their applications until next Monday. For now, developers can only upload free apps and they're required to pay $25 before registering. "We charge this fee to encourage higher quality products on the market (e.g. less spammy products)," explains Google.

From next year, developers will be able to distribute paid applications. Google opted for a similar revenue sharing model like Apple (70/30), except that 30% of the revenue will go to carriers. "Developers will get 70% of the revenue from each purchase; the remaining amount goes to carriers and billing settlement fees — Google does not take a percentage. We believe this revenue model creates a fair and positive experience for users, developers, and carriers," notes Eric Chu.

Although applications are one of the most exciting things about Android-powered mobile phones, Google didn't manage to provide an auto-update mechanism for applications and you can only install applications on the phone's internal memory.

7 comments:

  1. How Long will Android be in Public BETA?

    I have been using Gmail for 30 years and it still says BETA!!!

    Apple did wait until they had a version 1.0 before they shipped...

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  2. "We charge this fee to encourage higher quality products on the market"

    Is this april fool's? What a marvelously horrible idea. Maybe google should get in touch with sourceforge and suggest they charge new projects $25 to register to discourage "spammy" software from leaking onto our intertubes too.


    "30% of the revenue will go to carriers."

    Am I reading this right!?? What in the heck is going on here? The user is already paying the carrier for service. What is this 30% cut for exactly?? I hope my ISP doesn't get wind of this or they'll want a 30% cut of every amazon and ebay purchase I make from my home computer.

    Android just got a lot less interesting.

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  3. My startup has an application provisioning and auto-update mechanism for Android. We'll release it to beta in a few months. Information available, send request to:
    app-update at data-confidential dot com.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I need a app 2 see horse racing on my phone, if anyone can make an app so I can see the races on my G1 that would be great. E mail me at cangelortiz@aol.com

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  5. Chris I am working on that but android does not have a flash player yet so you will haave to wait.

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  6. "I have been using Gmail for 30 years and it still says BETA!!!"

    Gmail since 1980...no.

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  7. Google = September 4, 1998
    Gmail = April 1, 2004

    ReplyDelete

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