Yep, Amazon Launching Their Own App Store For Android Too
Earlier today, after several tips, we guessed that Amazon may be close to launching its own app store for Android — yes, another Android app store. Sources we reached out to weren't sure about what exactly Amazon was launching …
Context & Ripple Effects
TechCrunch is reporting, on tips rather than confirmation, that Amazon is preparing its own app store for Android — which would make the retailer a distributor of third-party software alongside Google's own Market. The same outlet's syndicated piece floats the obvious follow-on question: whether an Android tablet from Amazon would accompany the store, though that remains unconfirmed speculation.
The timing fits the arc already visible in the data: Quantcast's August figures had Android at roughly 25% of US mobile web browsing against iOS, and observers had noted the smartphone balance of power shifting toward Android through September. A storefront would let Amazon attach its retail brand — pricing muscle, merchandising, a large existing customer base — to that growth curve.
First-order effects
- Android developers gain a prospective second storefront with Amazon's checkout and customer base behind it, reducing dependence on Google's Market as the sole paid-distribution channel.
- Google faces its first serious challenge to gatekeeping Android app distribution on its own platform — from a partner, not a rival OS vendor.
Second-order effects
- If the store ships, pricing becomes the battleground: Amazon's retail playbook (discounting, promotions, possibly free-app rotation) would pressure Google's Market revenue share and force carriers and handset makers to decide whose storefront ships preloaded.
- The rumored tablet angle points the same direction — a storefront is the prerequisite merchandise rack for an Amazon-branded Android device, echoing how Apple paired hardware with App Store control.
Third-order effects
- Android's openness invites fragmentation of app distribution itself: instead of one market, a tier of curated storefronts run by retailers and OEMs, with curation, payment terms, and promotion becoming competitive weapons.
- Commerce companies treating software distribution as retail — buying, bundling, discounting apps like goods — would push the industry toward storefront competition on price and trust rather than raw catalog size.
The trend: As Android scales, third parties are building their own storefronts atop it, turning app distribution from Google's monopoly into a contested retail layer.