Now Open: Amazon Appstore Launches With 3,800 Apps for Android
Amazon has officially launched the Android Appstore, a potential iTunes equivalent for Android. — The company-whose roots are in e-commerce and not mobile-aspires to merchandise and sell apps better than Google does on its own platform.
Context & Ripple Effects
Amazon’s Android-store plan moved from a September 2010 announcement to a January developer opening, with reporting also indicating that Amazon would control paid-app pricing. The launch turns that preparation into a consumer-facing alternative to Google’s own Android marketplace.
With 3,800 apps at opening, Amazon is applying its retail and merchandising model to software distribution rather than merely referring Android users to Google’s store.
First-order effects
- Amazon gains a direct Android software retail channel, while developers gain another route to customers under Amazon’s merchandising and paid-app pricing policies.
- Google faces a new storefront competing for Android app discovery and transactions, not just another Android device maker.
Second-order effects
- Developers must weigh Amazon’s reach and merchandising against the reduced control implied by Amazon setting paid-app prices, making storefront terms part of Android release strategy.
- Google’s marketplace is pressured to compete on discovery, merchandising and developer economics as Amazon seeks to sell apps more effectively.
Third-order effects
- Android app distribution is becoming a contest among storefront operators rather than a channel controlled solely by the platform owner, giving retailers a larger role in pricing and discovery.
- If Amazon’s retail model attracts developers and buyers, software storefronts may differentiate through merchandising and commercial control as much as catalog size.
The trend: Mobile software distribution is shifting from platform-owned marketplaces toward competing retail storefronts that control discovery and, in some cases, pricing.