head to head android ovi

8/8/2019 Head to Head Android Ovi

1/5

Marketplace Comparison

For details on subscribing to our monthly report pleasecontact [email protected]

Date: August 30, 2010Research Note #1

Mobile Application Markets:

Google vs. Nokia

Android Marketplace andOvi Store Head to Head
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


2/5

MOBILE APPLICATION MARKETS: DEVELOPER SATISFACTION

Android Marketplace and Ovi Store Head to Head

RESEARCH NOTE #1Both 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;

The need for a more fair ranking system; The hope to have more opportunities for promotion; The disappointment with the current support and communication provided to

developers and end users.

More importantly, a large number of both Nokia developers and Android developers are

disappointed with the revenues theyre making. Nokias 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

users 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 inthe 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.

http: //open-rst.com - Open-First August, 2010
http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/


3/5

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 support provided to your end users in the app

store?

While Google doesnt provide any support to end users in Android Market, Nokia does

provide some kind of support. Nokia developers who took part in the survey said they wereneutral about such support, 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 users in the app stores. In

other words, theyd like to be able to reply to user 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 users from finding apps, and unclear

criteria of ranking and featuring apps. Poor communication efforts that Nokia and Google are showing to developers.

Policies, rules, new agreements are poorly communicated and technical or

business related support requests from developers often have to overcomeautomatically generated messages, long waiting times to get a response, etc.



4/5

Survey Question: Are your revenues from the app store higher or lower than you had

expected?

49% of interviewed Android developers said theyre 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 theyre making less money than expected is

81%. When asked why they think this is happening, they often said they arent 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 Nokias 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.



5/5

HOW TO GET OUR REPORTS:

There are three ways to get full copy of our report:

1. Be one of our survey respondents! Each month we contact hundreds of developers toparticipate in our surveys. We draw our list from the marketplaces themselves --

contacting companies identified by the marketplace as top selling and top downloaded

applications. For about 15 minutes of your time you can help improve our survey and

receive a full copy for your own use.

2. Purchase an individual report -- Each report is $2,500 in the first month it is issued,

reduced to $1,250 in the two months following, and then just $500 once we have

published the next quarterly updated report.

3. Become a research subscriber and receive every report immediately upon release,

access our knowledgeable research team, and have us ask custom questions for you as

we speak to hundreds of mobile application developers each month -- talk to us about

structuring a research program that works for you!

CONTACT US:

Open-First695 High StreetPalo Alto, CA [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/http://open-first.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

head to head android ovi

Documents