Are Android users simply cheap?

[14 Dec 2011: Just informed that Robert Scoble mentioned this article so lots of new readers so I'm placing it at the top of the page.]

I've pretty much avoided posting on the various silly statements that Google chairman Eric Schmidt made this past week at Le Web.

There were a few reasons for this. One, I didn't believe he was quoted correctly. This was wise of me. A number of bloggers, particularly pro-Apple bloggers, jumped on some of what Schmidt purportedly said, then had to walk back their posts (if they are men of integrity),or in some cases (if they are not men of integrity) they just ignored reality when it was discovered that they were all quoting some guy who was misquoting Schmidt.

As always, be careful who you listen to and what their motivation is, dear reader.

Another reason for not focusing on Schmidt's comments has to do with the fact that Larry Page is in charge and he's using Schmidt and my Marissa to go out and be the face of the company while he does the stuff that CEOs really ought to do. Which is wise, even if Schmidt flubs. And this is why I focus on Page, not Schmidt.

Plus, let's be honest. Schmidt is like our creepy uncle. He says stuff that we know is probably wrong, that definitely makes us feel uncomfortable, and it's just best, we decide, if we just make no mention of it and just try and make sure we're only around him when there's lots of others. It's best that way.

Thus, Schmidt's silly (purported) statements about how all televisions will be Google TV's in a matter of months, or how Android is so big and so dominant that even the few remaining iOS rebel developers will have no choice but to develop first (and maybe only) for Android were ignored by me. Because the statement is dumb. As if only market share and Google's power over the web were all that mattered, and not realities such as developer support or market discovery or payments or SKD or code or QC or fragmentation or nothing else mattered.

Except...that last misquote got me to thinking: how come, with its huge market share, with the (well promoted) 10 billionth Android Market app download and the millions and millions of Android users, that there's so little actual  *money* for Android app developers? Yes, I know Google doesn't like to share, but still, not even a few pennies for developers?

I mean, there's almost no money in the Android app business.

If every downloaded Android Market app went for a single shiny penny, that's 10,000,000,000 x 1 cent = $100 million. Has the Android Market even genereated that little amount of cash? A penny for each download?

Why so little?

We know it's not because Android users choose "the web" over apps. iOS conintues to dominate in web browsing. Plus, 10 billion app downloads -- from the sanctioned Android app market -- is a huge number. That should be able to stand on its own as a viable monetization opportunity. But it does not.

Why is this?

As Trefis succinctly stated:

Apple owns about 85 to 90% of total mobile app spending. This is likely to be still more than 70% of mobile app revenue share for the next three or four years. [5] This goes to show that although Google has been successfully able to grow its apps ecosystem in the terms of volume, it has failed to monetize it effectively.

Reality tells me that Trefis is more right than Schdmit. Even a year from now, or three or four, the *vast majority of dollars* for apps will remain with iOS, not Android.

Meaning, Schmidt's silly prediction about how everybody will be developing first/primarily for Android is not likely to come true. Not next year, maybe not ever.

Though this still does not answer my question...why?

Is it because Android apps are *inherently* crappy? Not worth spending money on?

Are all Android users poor? Or cheap?

Is it related to fragmentation? To device type? Meaning that apps simply do not look, present or function as well on Android and thus Android users refuse to actually pay for them?

Google's expertise is with offering (someone else's) content for free and making its money on placing advertising on (someone else's) content. Have all Android users simply accepted this Faustian bargain and are in turn demanding apps for free? If they are, so far this bargain isn't working out well for developers as iOS users click on mobile ads in far greater proportionate numbers than do Android users.

Until there is real money in apps for Android, and right now there is not, iOS will continue to dominate on apps, including app development. Not Android, not Google. Not the poor Android app developers.

Any suggestions on why Android users refuse to pay?