“During this past quarter, Google’s mobile phones made up four out every five shipped. Considering Apple came in a distant second with just under 13%, that is a staggering lead,” Mike Schuster reports for Minyanville.
MacDailyNews Take: Google “leads” only because Apple hasn’t entered this race. Apple does’t race to the bottom. Never have. Never will.
And, oh-by-the-way, they’re not “Google’s mobile phones.” Most of them have nothing whatsoever to do with Google.
“Then again, Apple is definitely no slouch when it comes to profits. Not only does Cupertino lead the industry in hardware profit margins, in-app purchases and developer revenue completely trounce that of Android’s offerings,” Schuster reports. “In terms of paid downloads and in-app purchases, Android slumps to $0.43 for every dollar on iOS. Taking paid downloads out of the equation, the gap is even wider: Android makes just $0.24 for in-app purchases compared to iOS’ $1.00.”
“Despite a pressing need for Android coders given the sheer number of devices for the platform, iOS developers earn more than five times the revenue per download than Android developers,” Schuster reports. “Clearly, iPhone and iPad users are more willing to part with their cash for an app than are Android users, making Apple’s mobile OS far more attractive to code for.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Once more, in case you missed it, as we wrote in November 2012:
Google made a crucial mistake: They gave away Android to “partners” who pushed and continue to push the product into the hands of the exact opposite type of user that Google needs for Android to truly thrive. Hence, Android is a backwater of second-rate, or worse, app versions that are only downloaded when free or ad-supported – but the Android user is notoriously cheap, so the ads don’t sell for much because they don’t work very well. You’d have guessed that Google would have understood this, but you’d have guessed wrong.
Google built a platform that depends heavily on advertising support, but sold it to the very type of customer who’s the least likely to patronize ads.
iOS users are the ones who buy apps, so developers focus on iOS users. iOS users buy products, so accessory makers focus on iOS users. iOS users have money and the proven will to spend it, so vehicle makers focus on iOS users. Etcetera. Android can have the “Hee Haw” demographic. Apple doesn’t want it or need it; it’s far more trouble than it’s worth.
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