Amazon extends Appstore for Android to Japan

Roughly a month after expanding its Appstore for Android to the European market, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is extending its sales reach to Japan.

According to Amazon, Android developers can visit its Amazon Mobile App Distribution Portal to submit applications targeting the Japanese market. The store will begin marketing those apps to consumers later this year, complete with localized content and promotions alongside Appstore for Android features like the Free App of the Day program, customer reviews and one-click payments. Android developers may also leverage engagement tools such as Amazon's new GameCircle services, which support leaderboards, achievements and syncing across devices, as well as commerce and payment capabilities including in-app purchasing and subscriptions.

Developers including ZeptoLab, Halfbrick Studios, TinyCo and The Weather Channel have already confirmed they will team with Amazon to offer their apps and games to Japanese audiences.

Amazon Appstore for Android opened to U.S. consumers in March 2011. The storefront promises a user experience rooted in the company's e-commerce and marketing expertise, highlighted by a series of automated marketing features extending Amazon's signature product recommendation engine to mobile software merchandising and a Bestsellers section to further improve consumer discovery.

Android developers consistently generate substantially greater revenues per user in the Amazon Appstore than in the rival Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Play storefront, according to data published earlier this year by app store analytics firm Flurry. For every $1 yielded by Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) pacesetting App Store for iOS, Amazon Appstore drives an average of $0.89 per user, while Google Play earns developers just $0.23 per user, Flurry reports. Flurry credits Appstore for Android's success to Amazon's digital retail prowess, noting Google's strengths are its search tools and advertising technologies.

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