Analysis by Royal Pingdom says Google needs to open up more countries to paid downloads.
The stats say Android has around 95,000 apps, and Apple’s iOS at around 250,000 apps.
However, on Apple’s App Store, roughly 70 per cent of the apps are paid while on Android Market, it’s almost exactly the other way around, with 64 per cent free apps.
This despite the fact that there are almost certainly now more Android developers than iPhone developers.
Royal Pingdom draws four main conclusions.
* Not enough paid outlets. Only nine countries support paid apps on Android Market.
* More hobbyists? Perhaps the lack of an approval process makes it more likely for hobbyist projects to exist on Android.
* Different culture? It’s quite possible that Android has attracted a higher share of developers from the open source and Linux world, who are used to making their applications available for free.
* Self perpetuation. Developers see the high-profile iPhone success stories and those with commercial ideas follow on to the platform.
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