I think I could care less about the number of downloads from a place such as the Amazon store - it would take really amazing download rates for a free app to make back the $99 fee in any reasonable amount of time, and I just don't see where this is possible, unless Amazon has made some exclusive agreements with major carriers to place their market on millions of phones.
It may make sense for paid apps (without a doubt, purchasing through Amazon would be more acceptable to many users than purchasing through Google Checkout + you have almost worldwide sales coverage). Certainly, if any independent market can compete with the Android market it would be Amazon, but I think they've shot themselves in the foot with the initial entry fee. That is going to keep a lot of the small developers from making the jump across -> fewer apps -> less chance that customers will take them seriously. Quality control is a good thing, but the registration fee just feels like a way of turning a profit on developers irrespective of sales. They should have made their initial offer of registration be free to the best/most popular apps to build up a good stable of apps for the launch - and then considered a registration fee afterward (as you say - if the sales are there, the developers will follow). If the registration was free, I don't think I would think twice about putting my free apps on there. As is, I'm still looking for additional information, like the OP. Regards, Michael A. On Oct 4, 6:53 pm, Shane Isbell <shane.isb...@gmail.com> wrote: > Niko, I didn't sign any NDA with Amazon, but there is a lot of public > information out there about the Amazon Android Store, coming from people > leaking information out to various sites. Once the information becomes > public, the NDA in regards to you talking about public information is not > enforceable. > > My guess is that they are (or will) try to enforce that developers always > keep their application up-to-date with Android Market versions. To keep > users, they would need such a provision, as who wants to buy an app from a > store that doesn't get updates? > > From my experience, most developers care about two things above all else: 1) > downloads; 2) money from sales. If you look at all the other complaints, > they are related to (1) and (2). Bad comments - hurts (1) or (2). My app > doesn't show up, I can't sell it. Lots of spam apps means users can't find > my app to buy. And so on. > > If Amazon can demonstrate that it can generate for the developer much more > than the $99 dollar registration fee, then developers will flock to them, > even putting up with unnecessary restrictions from Amazon. > > So the problem is: can Amazon demonstrate these sales? Introducing a high > entrance fee means that 90%+ would never even consider them, as they either > have free apps or their sales on Android Market are so low, they could never > justify it. With a low number of apps in the store, users won't take it > seriously. You end up with low downloads and sales so developers don't take > it seriously. > > Shane > > On Mon, Oct 4, 2010 at 8:55 AM, niko20 <nikolatesl...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > I don't think it's a breach of NDA terms to ask - has anyone here > > decided to yes, take the offer to join the Amazon store? > > > Personally I'm still unsure if I want to do so. The problem I have > > isn't that they want to have more control over the apps, it's their > > store, but that it seems like that control may extend beyond their > > store. > > > What's everyone else been thinking? > > > -niko > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > Groups "Android Developers" group. > > To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<android-developers%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
