Amazon next in line to launch Android app store

Online retail giant Amazon.com is reportedly poised to roll out an Android application storefront to rival Google's own Android Market as well as efforts like Verizon Wireless' (NYSE:VZ) V Cast Apps. Citing sources asked to sign NDAs about the initiative, TechCrunch reports the Amazon store will offer both premium and free Android apps--for each paid app sold, developers will receive either 70 percent of the purchase price or "20 percent of the List Price as of the purchase date," a stipulation presumably in place to dissuade developers from selling their software at a discount via competing stores. ("We have sole discretion to determine all features and operations of this program and to set the retail price and other terms on which we sell Apps," Amazon's developer guidelines add.)

At launch, the Amazon Android store will limit downloads to U.S. consumers--all applications will integrate DRM features to ensure they run solely on Amazon-approved devices. Amazon also will charge developers a $99 annual registration fee, the same charged enforced by Apple's iOS developer program.

Earlier this month, Google revealed that Android Market now boasts over 80,000 applications, up 10,000 new apps since mid-July. Despite its growth, Android Market remains a lightning rod for controversy, due largely to issues facing developers looking to distribute and bill for premium applications: Developers in only nine countries are presently able to offer paid apps via Android Market--moreover, paid apps are available in only 14 of the 46 countries that the storefront serves. On top of that, consumers must register for a Google Checkout account in order to download paid Android applications, except in locations where operator billing is available. As the Daring Fireball blog notes, Amazon.com accepts payments in more countries than Google Checkout does.

Verizon Wireless this month began accepting Android app submissions for its V Cast Apps storefront, which rolled out across BlackBerry smartphones earlier this year; the operator initially will offer V Cast Apps across devices running Android 2.2, among them the Droid 2, Droid X and Droid Incredible. Verizon Wireless formally announced V Cast Apps in July 2009 at its maiden Verizon Developer Community event, promising consumers one-click access to mobile applications and billing purchases directly to their monthly account statements--V Cast Apps offers developers the same 70/30 revenue split that has become the mobile industry's de facto standard, with the operator adding that software can go from concept submission to consumer availability is as little as two weeks.

For more on Amazon's Android app store:
- read this TechCrunch article

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