Android Market: 37 percent of all apps are withdrawn

Study analyzes growth of the mobile marketplace

37 percent of all discontinued apps have been withdrawn since the start of the Android Market and are no longer available. This is the conclusion of the report "Android Market Insights" by the Berlin market researchers from research2guidance http://research2guidance.com . Around 320.000 programs are currently available, with 42.000 new ones added in September alone.

Android Market: Record growth in September (Photo: Google)

Android Market: Record growth in September (Photo: Google)

New growth record

The popularity of Android devices remains unbroken. The increasing number of users is also reflected in the growth of the "Android Market" app hub. There the offer comprised around 320.000 entries at the end of September.

In September alone, the range increased by 42.000 apps, which corresponds to a growth of 15 percent and sets a new record with a usual average of 20.000 programs. The proportion of paid software, so-called "premium apps", is falling, and developers are increasingly producing free, mostly advertising-financed content. At the end of September every third app was chargeable, in the first week of October it was only every fourth. The average price for paid content is $ 3.18 (approx. 2,3 euros).

Android developer hardest working

The market is dominated by four content categories: games, entertainment, personalization and music or audio. This accounts for a good half of the newly added content.

In comparison with the stores of the other operating systems, Android developers are the most productive. On average, a provider published 4.38 programs in the third quarter of this year. This is followed by the manufacturers of software for the Apple App Store (4,21), the WinPhone 7 Marketplace (3.76) and the BlackBerry App World.

The mobile operating system is Cashcow

Since the launch of the Android marketplace, over half a million programs have been published, only 100.000 fewer than Apple's hub. However, 37 percent of these have now been withdrawn for various reasons, 78 percent of which were free offers.

The iOS App Store is currently still at the top, according to Apple, over 500.000 programs are available there. However, the available figures allow the prognosis that the Android market will take its place in the sun in the medium term. According to information from Google, there are currently over 190 million Android devices in circulation, and the operating system has already brought the search giant revenue of 2.5 billion dollars this year. That means an increase of 150 percent compared to the previous year.

Download the research2guidance report (registration required):
http://www.research2guidance.com/shop/index.php/android-market-insights-september-2011