Amazon's Disruptive Android App Store Now Open To Developers — Full Details
Full Details — Fragmentation. Curation. Recommendations. Take your pick: Android is getting all three, compliments of a new Amazon-run application marketplace due to launch later this year.
Context & Ripple Effects
Amazon had signaled an Android store in September 2010, and the opening of its developer portal turns that earlier store plan into a channel developers can begin preparing for. The marketplace is slated to launch later in 2011, with Amazon positioning curation and recommendations as part of its offer.
The move arrives as Android is attracting the largest share of recent U.S. smartphone customers, giving Amazon a reason to extend its retail and recommendation model into mobile software distribution.
First-order effects
- Android developers gain a second prospective storefront for submitting and distributing apps, while Amazon begins building the catalog needed for its planned marketplace launch.
- Amazon becomes a direct intermediary between Android developers and users, with curation and recommendations distinguishing its store from an undifferentiated app listing.
Second-order effects
- Google’s Android distribution channel faces a new competing route to developers and users, increasing the value of discoverability and store-level merchandising.
- Developers must weigh the terms and promotional opportunities of Amazon’s channel alongside their existing Android distribution choices, making storefront access part of release strategy.
Third-order effects
- If retailers can pair Android’s reach with their own merchandising systems, Android software distribution may fragment across branded storefronts rather than concentrate in a single marketplace.
- The contest shifts from simply carrying apps to controlling discovery: recommendation systems and curation become durable sources of leverage over developer visibility.
The trend: Android’s expanding device base is creating room for third-party app storefronts that compete on discovery and retail control, not only app inventory.