Android apps have been given away for free up until now, largely because Google hasn’t implemented any kind of pricing scheme or payment methods on its Android Market site. This could be about to change.
Android apps cover a wide range of functions and games, but the Android Market is still way behind the eleven thousand or so apps clogging up the iPhone App Store on iTunes. Although the open-source Android does attract large numbers of hobbyists or free-software advocates, there must be a lot of coders holding back on their own Android Apps until they can be assured of getting some return for their hard work.
A Wall Street Journal article on the subject of Microsoft’s mobile strategy let slip that Android apps will soon be sold via the market as Google is about to let developers set their prices “according to people familiar with the matter.”
Little is known about the pricing scheme for Android Apps – in particular if there will be a ‘banding’ structure similar to the App Store – but Google has said that it will not profit from the arrangement and that developers will get to keep all their profits.
via Wired
