Fixed Mobile Convergence

AndroidTapp, and its parent company, AsSeenOnPhone, have found that Amazon’s Free App of the Day program is steadily earning praise, according to a detailed analysis of the statistics behind Amazon’s program.

The report finds that to date, Amazon has given away more than 100 apps, with an average retail value of around $2.36, for more than $230 so far this year. Further, the report says if the company continues to release apps at this pace and price range, for 365 free apps per year, this could result in a savings of nearly $900 for the consumer. This breaks down to $71.38 per month, or $16.47 per week if the consumer were to download and use every free app provided.

While many users come to Amazon simply to “kick the tires” of the free apps, around 72 percent spend $1-$10 per month on apps in the market, in addition to the free downloads, the report said.

The Test Drive feature in Amazon program is gaining wider popularity. About 24 percent of those apps given away have Amazon’s exclusive Test Drive feature on its website. This feature allows visitors to see the app and try it out on their computer screen before purchasing.

“We are seeing evidence of how multiple competitive app marketplaces can benefit consumers,” said Antonio Wells, co-founder and chief editor for AsSeenOnPhone, in a statement. “Even if customers only downloaded the free apps every day, it would be equivalent to what some pay annually to their wireless carrier; another perk for purchasing an Android (News - Alert) phone or tablet.”

The report says a full 57 percent of the apps consumers are downloading from the Amazon marketplace are games. They include exclusive to Amazon, such as the recent Popcap Games launch of Chuzzle, Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle. Productivity and utility apps are also among the most popular.

AndroidTapp.com poll also found that users are merely “satisfied” with the Amazon App Store overall versus “very satisfied” with Google’s (News - Alert) own Android Marketplace. Overall app selection and the ease of purchase were cited as the main reasons for the difference. Another drawback of Amazon App Store is that it is available only in the United States.

“AndroidTapp.com Android app review service is committed to thoroughly evaluating Amazon’s free app of the day, to help consumers confidently know of the pros and cons of Android apps before downloading,” said Wells. “As we have seen on rare occasions Amazon swap the daily free app due to poor user reviews.”

Recently, Amazon announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire The Book Depository (Guernsey) Limited, a UK-based online bookseller.

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