Skyhook Wireless has issued a report on trends in location-aware apps from Apple's App Store, Google's Android Marketplace and the BlackBerry App World. Skyhook conducted the study by manually searching these three app stores for common apps, and found that very few developers distribute apps across all and that most have different pricing points.
Though there are nearly 6,000 location apps on iPhone, 900 on Android and 300 on BlackBerry, Skyhook found that only 43 of these apps are available in all three app stores. Of these 43 apps, most are free, indicating that developers make their apps cross-platform as a way to increase download numbers, not revenues. Developers that are interested in high revenue tend to focus only on paid apps for iPhone.
In addition, all paid cross-platform apps set different pricing points across each platform. BlackBerry versions are always the most expensive, while iPhone and Android versions are usually set much lower.
"We feel each of the three platforms (iPhone, Android, and Blackberry) we selected has a large target audience and we want our product to be easily available to them through multiple wireless carriers," said James Bryant, CEO of Tweservation. "Other mobile users can still access our product with their mobile browser but these platforms will dominate."
"We were surprised to see so few location apps being distributed across these app stores," said Kate Imbach, vice president of marketing at Skyhook Wireless. "The iPhone is now the platform of choice for developers who are monetizing via app sales. It will be interesting to see if over time developers can successfully monetize via sales on other platforms."
The full report is available today at www.locationrevolution.com/stats/skyhookfebreport.pdf
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