When you compare Android smartphones vs the iPhone, you find that there are fans of both products and each is firmly entrenched into their position that their choice of a smartphone is the best. On the Android side, there are a number of reasons that users provide as to why they like the Google operating system and to name just a few,
it’s common to hear that it is a flexible open source operating system, there are a number of hardware vendors providing more product choices and Android market apps are cheaper.
These all seem like valid points on the Android side of this equation, but a new study undertaken by Canalys looks to turn the third argument upside down. According to their survey in which they looked at the top 100 paid applications that are found within the Android market, Android apps are 2.5 times more expensive then their iPhone cousins. In the survey, Canalys discovered that the most popular 100 apps on Android had a total value of $374.37 whereas on the iPhone, it was $147.00. In reviewing their data, the site came to a couple of conclusions to account for the differences in price between the two ecosystems.
The first was that Apple tends to take a more managed approach to their app store with in-app purchases playing a greater roll which in turn increases competition. On the other hand, Android phone owners are looking for lower cost apps or free apps, meaning that app developers on this platform charge more money to generate the same profit margins. According to the analysts, Android has a ways to go in order to change the mindset of its customers, encouraging them to make their first app purchases. As more Android users purchase apps, more volumes would be generated and this could drive prices down.
