The Strength in Alternative Markets: Amazon Opens Appstore for Android
It’s crystal clear that Amazon is making good use of games as a selling point to lure developers, publishers, advertisers and most importantly, the gamers, in their alternative market. Today, Amazon launches their Appstore for Android, introducing free and paid gaming options. Users will be greeted by reduced prices in this marketplace. This strategy is also targeting to meddle with Google’s Android Market.
Amazon’s Appstore for Android is a beta portal where developers can submit applications for Android-based smartphones and gamers can purchase games for as low as $0.99. Amazon draws developers by highlighting the opportunity to access to tens of millions of active Amazon customers—their customers having strong interest in mobile experience.
Trends showed that Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Birds Rio, Fruit Ninja and Shazam Encore are the top 5 paid applications, while ZombieBooth, Angry Birds Seasons Free, Angry Birds Free, Amazon Mobile and Paper Toss are being embraced by free application lovers. The app store opened to business in the Unites States, excluding AT&T customers. But, AT&T is already negotiating to change this, especially after their billion-dollar T-Mobile purchase.
It looks like everyone wants a slice of the industry, estimated to be worth $70.1 billion by 2015. Now, the alternative markets are going mainstream and is predicted to be the next big thing, especially in the gaming sphere. Getjar, an independent app portal, is also following the footpath of the alternatives and hangs its hopes on Android games—Android being the dominant party and beating Apple in the United States. Getjar has recently prompted aggressive strategies following a $25 million worth of funding.
On the other end, Android has been solidifying and improving its own backyard to look even more attractive to the market. With its flexible SDKs that allow developers to get their games out to a bigger audience on a wide variety of devices, Android gaming continues to enjoy the largest chunk in the industry today. Another enterprise dancing to the twist is T-Mobile’s with its latest Android smartphone, the LG G2x that has killer looks and a seemingly powerhouse.
Celebrations within the Amazon party were momentarily stalled as Apple Inc. sued the former for the patent of the moniker “App store”. Will Amazon be able to play this real-life game well? We’ll soon find out, surely.
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