What is the business model for Android apps

[Kev]

If we develop a handy utility or game or whatever to run on Android
what is the intention for the business model for this:

- Is the idea that it is all just a free-for-all?

- Are we expected to make our own arrangements to sell the app from
our sites or Handango or whatever?

- Is there going to be some market place where users can pick and
choose the apps?

- Is there going to be some mechanism for promoting apps to users?

- Are there going to be bus dev people for us developers who will help
get apps built into Android devices as they are shipped?

- How can we protect our apps from piracy?

- If our app gets popular will Google buy us? :-)

Any other guidance as to what to expect would be great.

[EvergreenDan]

bump. I'd like to know this, too.

[Treth]

Bump, again. As pleased as all of us here are that we're as ahead of
the game as one can get, the time table shows that mature, developed
applications aren't exactly the goal, and I really feel that further
clarification on what we're expected to do would be nice. I thought
of examining the way that Google Summer of Code projects have
progressed, but I don't think the comparison is as direct as I'd like
it to be.

[hdante]

Hi,

I believe that Android is just a system infrastructure. That is, you
may write code that will run on a "stable" API and will work on a
specified set of devices. Beyond that, you're on your own. I believe
that the answers for your questions are always "you're on your own",
"you decide it", or "that's your problem". :-)

[Thomas Fjellstrom]

On Fri November 16 2007, Treth wrote:
> Bump, again. As pleased as all of us here are that we're as ahead of
> the game as one can get, the time table shows that mature, developed
> applications aren't exactly the goal, and I really feel that further
> clarification on what we're expected to do would be nice. I thought
> of examining the way that Google Summer of Code projects have
> progressed, but I don't think the comparison is as direct as I'd like
> it to be.

The way I see it, the contest states the winners are selected from the "most
promising" entries. They don't have to actually be finished, but at least
functional, and have some sort of future.

> On Nov 13, 1:00 am, Kev <ke...@dinn.com> wrote:
> > If we develop a handy utility or game or whatever to run on Android
> > what is the intention for the business model for this:
> >
> > - Is the idea that it is all just a free-for-all?
> >
> > - Are we expected to make our own arrangements to sell the app from
> > our sites or Handango or whatever?
> >
> > - Is there going to be some market place where users can pick and
> > choose the apps?
> >
> > - Is there going to be some mechanism for promoting apps to users?
> >
> > - Are there going to be bus dev people for us developers who will help
> > get apps built into Android devices as they are shipped?
> >
> > - How can we protect our apps from piracy?
> >
> > - If our app gets popular will Google buy us? :-)
> >
> > Any other guidance as to what to expect would be great.
>
>

--
Thomas Fjellstrom
tfjel...@gmail.com

[EvergreenDan]

> ...Beyond that, you're on your own. I believe

> that the answers for your questions are always "you're on your own",
> "you decide it", or "that's your problem". :-)

I agree, we shouldn't expect help from Google. But can someone suggest
how you might "on your own" make actual income from an Android
application (short of any prize money, which I would consider "gravy"
-- great if you win, but don't count on it).

If "hobbiest" programmer (i.e. folks working nights and weekends
programming basically for fun (and probably programming professionally
during the day for a living) work on this and don't make any money,
we'll that's probably OK. But if someone wants to actually make income
from their efforts, it would be great if someone (perhaps with
experience with other mobile apps) could provide some guideance. I'm
not expecting a roadmap, but maybe just a compass heading ;).

[cbazza]

That is the problem with Mobile Apps; there is no viable
commercialization option unless you get picked up by a carrier. You
make absolutely no money on Handango or any other of these web sites.
Only the carriers have enough customers to be able to generate decent
revenue from inexpensive apps. Now if every cellphone was running
Android and carriers were basically wireless internet service
providers with reasonable data packages, then I can see a way to make
good money without carriers.

Carlos.

[ken]

I care the privacy and how to protect our idea in the contest , and
have the same two questions:

- Is the idea that it is all just a free-for-all?

- How can we protect our apps from piracy?

[3Dwulf]

Excellent question, most people are probably hoping to get the
development in so that Google blesses their work with some prize money
and recognition and/or a gig for the team. Developing applications
should have some type of business model in mind (say a subscription,
free application but pay-for-premium plug-ins, etc.).

Admittedly, some type of commerce functionality should be a by-product
of what-ever application that is developed. It is hard to be truly
altruistic and create the absolute best application for this platform
and at the same time try to figure how to extract cash from the
customers that will use it in the first place.

The major players, Google, the Service Providers and the Media
corporations have got their ducks in a row and are in the best
position in this race to win with the cash in their coffers. They
are betting that the developers (which they do not initially have to
hire), will provide them with the next big cash cow, when it does
start gaining momentum after the application has been developed and
gained the proof of concept they are looking for, then, and only then,
will the powers that be consider placing their bets.

Any team of developers should consider this the new business model of
the times after all why take risks hiring developers to develop
applications that have not been market tested, when all the power
players have to do is sit and wait for *all* the works to come to
fruition and then put the carrot on the stick for the asses to follow.

My advise is two-fold, build the application *with* a business plan in
mind from the beginning so when the Devil wants to negotiate one will
have more leverage in the negotiating process.

[Azhar]

I may not know much about cell phone applications but I figure that
the only way that Google is going to be able to provide all these
services for free will be by being able to hook up its customers to
the local businesses.

I expect AdSense to come up with some ideas (as in advertisement pop
ups before, during or after the application is being used) for
developers.

Its not so hard. Plus, with the kind of reaction everyone is expecting
from the industry to the Android phones, it won't be so complicated to
sell your applications to the people in an "Android Applications
Store". (Hopefully, they wont all end up on eBay ;) )

Azhar.

[SBT分销管理系统(郑险峰)]

I would guess ( more accurately hope) with Android, mobile phone
users are able to download applications from the WEB just like how PCs
do. So how you make money from your Android app depends on yourself.

[joem]

Just a few thoughts.

Since we're talking about Google here they key concept must be ....
ads. Maybe you could integrate an ad placement into your app or
content ... be creative.

On Nov 12, 10:00 pm, Kev <ke...@dinn.com> wrote:
> If we develop a handy utility or game or whatever to run on Android
> what is the intention for the business model for this:
>
> - Is the idea that it is all just a free-for-all?

Probably for some apps, this is the case.

>
> - Are we expected to make our own arrangements to sell the app from
> our sites or Handango or whatever?
>
> - Is there going to be some market place where users can pick and
> choose the apps?

This depends on the carrier. If a carrier like Verizon decides to use
Android for it's platform (yeah right) then you could get recurring
income when a user subscribes to your app.

>
> - Is there going to be some mechanism for promoting apps to users?

Probably on your own here or Google is still trying to concertize this
- think java.net or shockwave.com.

>
> - Are there going to be bus dev people for us developers who will help
> get apps built into Android devices as they are shipped?

Again on your own - if you're familiar with BREW development/business
model you might have an idea how it works (http://brew.qualcomm.com)

[Treth]

After perusing the forums and thinking about google's statements, I
think that we can safely say that the direction they want us to take
is toward desktop-izing this platform. You have your staple apps that
must be on every desktop, and Google wants us to hurl our ideas upon
the pikes of their judges, though I might be dramatizing slightly, so
that out of all the entries, a mere 50 are brought together to
represent the type of things that this phone will be used for. It's a
bit of a cheap move to pull the 'we'll know it when we see it', but
unrestrained innovation is the only way to truly progress. To break
in on an established industry, where players like Symbian run the
arena, the OHA needs to be able to do things nobody else can, but
everybody else wants to.

And really, I think that an analysis of the factors leading up to this
contest will point out something. There are 109 weekdays left before
this contest closes, by my count. This platform is brand new and the
SDK is introducing new semantics and a new architecture based around
VM's housing all userspace processes, and the checks go out in that
amount of time? That is madness. These projects will be very rushed.

Consider, though, the disparity between first and second round
funding. While Google knows that the amount of time we have isn't
enough to build an application, they also know that 'for free' isn't
an option for complex, world-changing ideas to develop. Most of us
are focused on the $25,000 first-round, but realistically, that is the
bait. The fifty groups funded there will now be given a chance to
show fiscal responsibility, to drive their application's development,
and to use resources to achieve a goal. After but a short period, ten
receive $275,000, and ten receive $100,000. This means that a
whopping 40% of the groups who passed the first round will be funded
with at least four times the first check.

For that reason, I think that what Google wants to see from us the
most is a complete, mature business plan that will stably ensure that
their resources will be put to the use for which they were intended.
Technical competency with the Android platform is essential, and
people must understand that the work put into this hardware needs to
be displayed. Applications that rely heavily on peculiarities of the
internal structure of the Android platform will be leaned towards, for
the precise reason that they demonstrate why it is /different/. Its
superiority can be established later, but the differences must be
tangible and must surprise the users.

In short, I think it may very well be that a donations-based project
could win funding. I would think that open-source with subscription
to data services, such as for remote lookups of pre-compiled data to
speed the user experience, would be looked kindly upon, especially if
they were well documented and served others. I also would say that a
decent library set to provide certain types of complex functionality,
though it's hard to think of any not already included, would be good
as well.

~Treth

On Nov 13, 1:00 am, Kev <ke...@dinn.com> wrote:

[Azhar]

nice post.

[monmonja]

Guys you might take a look at this:
http://monmonja.com/blog/2007/11/possible-business-model-for-the-android/

On Nov 19, 3:02 am, Azhar <Azhar.Bande...@gmail.com> wrote:
> nice post.

[Jason Chen]

Hi all,

Please continue this discussion over on http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss.
Now that we have multiple groups/lists, let's keep this particular
group focused on technical discussion about Android application
development. I'm going close this thread.

Thanks,

-Jason

On Nov 19, 9:39 am, monmonja <almondmend...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Guys you might take a look at this:http://monmonja.com/blog/2007/11/possible-business-model-for-the-andr...