2010 was a year of big ups and downs for the Google (NASADAQ: GOOG) Android mobile operating system. Though the June release of the iPhone 4 from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) sapped some of Google’s smartphone momentum, the company claimed 300,000 Android devices were being activated each day as of early December. That’s compared with 270,000 iPhone activations per day in October.
Though recent Apple earnings indicate a significant spike above that figure and AAPL is due for another leap in February when the Verizon (NYSE: VZ) iPhone hits., there’s no doubt Google and Android are for real. And thanks to the growing popularity of the gadget, the the Android App Market is also on the rise.
For instance, Angry Birds developer Rovio said recently that its game has now been downloaded more than 50 million times and 10 million of those downloads were on Android devices. The Android game is supported by ads and in-app purchases, yielding a reported $1 million in monthly revenue from that one game alone.
But Google isn’t satisfied. with Google’s Android platform manager Eric Chu recently stating he is “not happy” about the sales rate of paid apps in the Android App Market. The company is looking to make apps a priority, and boost revenue as a result.
What will Google do? Well here are the four major app events coming to Android in 2011 that investors and consumers should prepare for.
The Amazon Appstore on Android
It’s been public knowledge since last September, but it was just on Jan. 5 that Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) confirmed it is now accepting submissions for its very own app storefront exclusively for Android phones. The biggest selling point of the Amazon Appstore’s — cleverly named to work around Apple’s trademark — is a tight moderation of content, another parallel to Apple. Though Amazon will certainly cash in on this, Google will share in the sales simply by virtue of hosting the app store on its Android OS.
Unified Android In-App Payment System
Developers love iOS devices because Apple has established a single system to process additional content purchased inside of apps. Google is planning to introduce a variety of unified billing systems with Android carriers across the world to mimic this process. Google shareholders can expect this seemingly small move to yield positive results as more revenue is created by individual Android apps because it’s easier for developers to understand how to make money with their apps — and thus easier for Google to get a commission since it will take a share of all in app sales.
HTML 5 Support
Google is keeping pace with Apple, pushing the HTML 5 Web standard as a platform for Android app creation. This means that major app releases like Facebook craze FarmVille will see simultaneous release on both the Android Market and the Apple App Store, eliminating Apple’s traditional lead on popular apps. Expect other major gaming app companies like Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Disney (NYSE: DIS) gaming house Disney Interactive to follow suit over the coming year adopting the HTML 5 standard.
SCVNGR and Other Social Apps
Location-based app SCVNGR, a gaming-focused competitor to social networking apps like Foursquare, has now gathered $20 million in private investment. According to TechCrunch, SCVNGR has a valuation of more than $100 million — and Google Ventures has been pouring money into SCVNGR since its first round of funding in late 2009. SCVNGR’s service, which gives users points based on numerous activities when they check into a location (take a picture, answer trivia, and so on), is gaining popular support from advertisers like Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and could be the next social networking hit — both with consumers, and with Google since it actually has a way to monetize its popularity.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.
