Amazon App Store: Rotten To The Core
About 3 months ago, we set off on a little experiment into the world of the Amazon App Store. Back then people were hailing it as the solution to the problems with the Google Market, industry pundits like Andy Ihnatko called it ‘An Excellent Work in Progress’.
Context & Ripple Effects
The verdict lands amid a building wave of skepticism rather than out of nowhere: GigaOM had already run a piece in July 2011 calling Amazon's Android Appstore 'not so amazing' (Amazon's Android Appstore, not so amazing), so a developer publishing a three-month first-hand takedown extends a narrative that was already turning. What made the store worth scrutinizing was its launch positioning — observers, including pundit Andy Ihnatko, had hailed it as 'an excellent work in progress' and a fix for the problems plaguing the Google Market.
The stakes were sharpened back in January 2011, when GigaOM flagged that Google's own Android Market rules could squeeze Amazon's storefront (Google's Android Market rules could squeeze Amazon), meaning Amazon entered the market with a structural disadvantage before developer sentiment even came into play.
First-order effects
- Developers evaluating distribution channels now have a documented three-month negative account to weigh against the early praise, putting Amazon's curated-store pitch directly at odds with the goodwill it launched with.
Second-order effects
- With Google controlling the underlying Android Market rules, any developer defection from Amazon's store strengthens Google's hand in setting the terms under which rival Android storefronts can operate.
Third-order effects
- If curation quality becomes the differentiator among Android app stores, the contest shifts from catalog size to approval process and developer relations — with whoever governs the platform rules holding the leverage.
The trend: Android app distribution is fragmenting into rival storefronts whose curation practices, rather than catalog breadth, are becoming the competitive battleground.