Android problem: users do not want to spend money

Android has one billion active users. Moreover, over the past year, $ 5 billion was paid to developers. Sounds good until you realize that iOS users spend 4 times as much money on apps.

At the annual Google I / O conference, two key business indicators were announced for the first time: the number of active Android users per month and the fee paid by Goodle to Android application developers. Apart from users from China (apparently there are too many of them - approx. Transl.), As well as Kindle users, about 1 billion people use the Android system per month. At the same time, over the past 12 months, application developers have been paid about $ 5 billion. Analyst Benedict Evans of Andreessen Horowitz made a few simple calculations:

Apple said it paid $ 7 billion to developers in 2013. Given the current trend, over the past 12 months, developers have been paid about $ 10 billion. At the same time, in March 2014, iOS had about 470 million active users. It turns out that 2 times more Android users spend 2 times less money on applications, i.e. the average revenue per user (ARPU, average revenue per user) for Android is 4 times less than for iOS.

There are several assumptions why such a big difference is caused:
1) Android prevails in low-income countries.
2) iOS devices are usually more expensive than Android devices, so buyers who choose a more expensive device are willing to spend more money on applications.
3) Apple offers something that users want to get and, accordingly, are willing to spend money on it.
4) Application developers prefer iOS, because expect more profit, as a result, Android creates fewer good applications that users could buy.

The key here is the fact that Android users are initially less wasteful of money than iOS users. And this becomes a particularly significant problem for Android as this system spreads to various wearable devices and automation for smart homes.

At the same time, it becomes difficult not only to sell hi-end devices to Android users (top-end devices like the Galaxy S5 occupy a very small market share), but also to motivate developers to create competitive applications for devices that have such low attractiveness for customers.

Android has positioned itself as a cheap alternative to iOS, and it seems that this is exactly what users have been waiting for and what they are soon accustomed to. This fact may prevent the system from spreading to the most innovative and, accordingly, more expensive areas.