Survey: Amazon app developers not big fans of Kindle hardware - GigaOM

1 hour ago Apr. 25, 2013 – 9:25 AM PDT

Despite lagging far behind the iOS App Store and Google Play, the growing Amazon Appstore is beginning to be taken seriously by mobile app developers, right as it gears up for a wider international rollout, according to app analytics company AppAnnie.

Out of 1,500 mobile app developers surveyed, 22.5 percent are publishing for Amazon devices, according to AppAnnie’s inaugural Amazon app developer index published on Thursday. That’s tiny compared to its larger mobile rivals, but the big finding had to do with developers’ motivations: the Amazon Appstore is becoming an important outlet for developers, but not because they’re impressed with the company’s new hardware devices. Rather, AppAnnie found that the No. 1 thing driving developers to Amazon’s store is simple convenience: 52 percent said they already build Android apps, so it’s easy to port them over for Amazon’s store.

The other reasons they gave show Amazon still has a ways to go in convincing more developers that it’s an important and necessary outlet for their work. Among those already publishing on the platform only 24 percent said they did so because they “believe Amazon Appstore market share will grow,” and a meager 7 percent said they “believe the Kindle Fire will be a leading device.”

Some other interesting stats AppAnnie found:

• 56 percent of Amazon Appstore publishers focus on games
• Half say games are the leading revenue driver for them

AppAnnie sees big things for the store. There are already 75,000 apps on it and 19,000 developers signed up – which pales in comparison to 850,000 iOS app and 800,000 Google Play apps available – but the Appstore hasn’t been widely accessible outside the US However that’s changing soon: Amazon announced last week it would be opening the Appstore to 200 countries over the next few months, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, India, South Africa and South Korea.

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