Head To Head Android Ovi a4u1

Mobile Application Markets: Marketplace Comparison

Google vs. Nokia “Android Marketplace and Ovi Store Head to Head”

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Date: August 30, 2010 Research Note #1

MOBILE APPLICATION MARKETS: DEVELOPER SATISFACTION Android Marketplace and Ovi Store Head to Head

RESEARCH NOTE #1 Both Android and Nokia developers had several complaints about the two application marketplaces and the results of our two surveys (July-Ovi and August-Android) suggest many areas that can be improved. Some similarities emerged from the two groups of interviewed developers are: •

The desire to see higher quality standards for apps in the stores;

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The need for a more fair ranking system;

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The hope to have more opportunities for promotion;

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The disappointment with the current and communication provided to developers and end s.

More importantly, a large number of both Nokia developers and Android developers are disappointed with the revenues they’re making. Nokia’s Ovi Store seems to be particularly threatened by the revenue issue, with 2% of its current publishers intending to leave the store and 17% saying they might leave the store. Survey Question: How satisfied are you with the turnaround time for app review and approval? While applications submitted to the Ovi Store for publication have to be approved by Nokia, applications submitted to Android Market are immediately published and available to end s without going through any quality review process. The interesting finding that emerged from the surveys is that while 48% of Android developers were very satisfied with the quickness of the publishing process for apps, later in the survey the same developers often suggested that the lack of a centralized quality review process (combined with a bad rating system for apps) leads to poor visibility of better quality applications. This seems to discourage some developers that invest relevant amounts of time and money on Android applications.

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On the other hand, 65% of Nokia developers, when asked about their satisfaction with the timing of the QA process, said they were less than somewhat satisfied. They complained that the whole process is slow and inconsistent and that some frustrating time lag also exists between the approval and the publishing of the apps. Developers said they found both the lack of quality control (in Android Market) and the long approval process (in Ovi Store) to be among the main issues they encountered with the two app stores. Survey Question: How do you rate the provided to your end s in the app store? While Google doesn’t provide any to end s in Android Market, Nokia does provide some kind of . Nokia developers who took part in the survey said they were neutral about such , while 54% of Android developers said they were very dissatisfied, dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied about it. A common complaint/request by both Android and Nokia developers was that they would like to have a more effective way of interacting with their final s in the app stores. In other words, they’d like to be able to reply to comments and reviews in order to answer questions, notify them about fixed bugs and updates, etc. Survey Question: What specific problems have you encountered while using the app store? Of all the problems encountered, two stand out as common issues faced by both Android and Nokia developers: •

Inadequate visibility and promotion opportunities for applications in the stores, faulted search systems that prevent s from finding apps, and unclear criteria of ranking and featuring apps.

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Poor communication efforts that Nokia and Google are showing to developers. Policies, rules, new agreements are poorly communicated and technical or business related requests from developers often have to overcome automatically generated messages, long waiting times to get a response, etc.

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Survey Question: Are your revenues from the app store higher or lower than you had expected? 49% of interviewed Android developers said they’re earning less than they had expected due to inadequate quality control and ranking/rating system of apps that cause some apps to be more visible than others in a way that – according to developers – should be revised. The percentage of Nokia developers that said they’re making less money than expected is 81%. When asked why they think this is happening, they often said they aren’t provided enough opportunities and tools to promote their apps and make them visible to customers. The low revenues from Ovi Store are the main reason of overall dissatisfaction with the store, according to developers (see next section of this report). Those who are making more money than expected are 27% in the Android Market and 5.3% in Ovi Store. Survey Question: How satisfied are you, overall, with the app store? While 63% of interviewed Android developers said they are somewhat satisfied, satisfied or very satisfied with Android Market, the overall satisfaction with Nokia’s Ovi Store seems to be a lot more fragmented (15% said they rate Ovi as “average,” 43% said they are less than satisfied and 42% said they are somewhat satisfied, satisfied, or very satisfied). As a general observation, most Android developers see improvements being made to the store while Nokia developers are not as satisfied with the store as it is and ascribe this mostly to the fact that their revenues are lower than anticipated. Survey Question: Will you use the app store again to publish your apps? 94% of surveyed Android developers said they are going to keep using Android Market to sell their apps in the future. The percentage of Nokia developers who said they intend to publish to Ovi Store in the future is 81%. A significant difference was also recorded in the percentage of developers who said they MIGHT use these app stores again in the future: this is 17% of Nokia developers and 5% of Android developers.

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