作者：Sean Thompson

目前行业公认，对游戏开发者来说，iOS是比Android更好的盈利平台。比如，应用商店分析公司Distimo去年12月发布的报告中声称，iOS App Store产生的盈利是Google Play（游戏邦注：之前称为Android Market）的6倍。

与此同时，Flurry发布的顶级跨平台应用分析报告显示，Android应用产生的收益只有iOS应用的24%。在这份报告中，Flurry表示“开发者项目初始”（游戏邦注：即开发者创建的新项目数量）主要侧重于iOS，证实开发者社区大部分成员同意iOS是个更好的盈利平台。

那么，这种传统观念是否正确呢？根据我们Mobile Deluxe的调查结果，似乎并非完全正确。在广告赞助应用（游戏邦注：指应用通过条幅广告和空间来盈利，玩家无需支付金钱）方面，iOS似乎是个较好的平台。但是采用IAP的应用（不含广告，玩家可以付费丰富游戏体验）方面，Android显然是赢家。

在IAP应用方面，Android超越iOS似乎与行业的普遍共识正好相反。此外，iOS在广告应用方面的优势可能只是短期的，但Android在IAP应用方面的优势将持续下去。阅读下面的内容，你就会更理解其中的缘由。

数据

我们的主要广告赞助应用是《Solitaire Deluxe》。该应用在iOS上的下载量超过150万次，在Android上的下载量也将近100万。我们最热门的IAP应用是《Big Win Slots》。《Big Win Slots》在iOS上的下载量约为100万，Android上的下载量在20万左右。本次分析所采用的所有数据来源于这两款应用的2012 YTD结果。分析盈利使用的数据是ARPDAU（游戏邦注：即每活跃用户平均盈利）。

《Solitaire Deluxe》结果：广告赞助应用在iOS表现较好

solitaire deluxe-ad supported(from gamasutra)

以上图表显示，iOS的ARPDAU比Android多35%。为什么呢？原因有以下两点：iOS版本的每日活跃用户产生的广告印象更多；我们在iOS上每次广告展示获得的盈利（也称为eCPM，指每展示1000条广告所获得的净盈利）显著较高。

关于第1个原因，每DAU广告印象次数较高似乎得益于iPad效应。正如我在2012预测文章中所说的那样，我们30%的iOS广告印象来源于iPad。平板电脑有更长的游戏时间，能够给广告应用带来更多的广告印象。目前Android平板电脑还没有能与iPad媲美的产品，所以Android无法获得同样的用户粘性。这是两个平台间差异的主要原因。

两者间的差异还在于iOS平台3月份的eCPM较高。今年前两个月，二者的eCPM基本持平，但是iOS在季末的表现更好。这足以解释为何开发者更愿意将广告应用投放到iOS上。我们从未见过Android的eCPM高于iOS，但是我们时常会看见iOS的eCPM高于Android的情况。

从总体上来看，iOS在我们的广告赞助应用方面显然是赢家。但是，并不存在能够延续这种广告优势的结构化原因。从长远来看，Android平板电脑解决方案迟早会出现。亚马逊的Kindle Fire就是大众化Android平板电脑，但是谷歌需要先改善其操作系统，这样三星、华硕和其他OEM才能够在高端市场上与苹果竞争。对于广告eCPM方面的差异，我们看到了两者在前两个月的数据上基本持平。如果不是iOS在3月忽然上扬，两者的eCPM可能不会有很大的差异。

《Big Win Slots》结果：IAP应用在Android表现较好

Big Wind Slots-IAP supported(from gamasutra)

在IAP应用方面，Android的ARPDAU高出24%。两个截然不同的影响导致了这种差异：1月份iOS上每DAU的IAP盈利下滑；TapJoy的Marketplace使Android上的IAP盈利获得显著增长。

在标准IAP盈利方面，两个平台在2月和3月的盈利几乎相同，Android高出约2%。1月的差异较大，iOS落后Android多达22%。这样的差异足以让Android在第1季度取得10%的领先优势。对于我们的IAP应用而言，Google Play的表现强于苹果的App Store。

要认清TapJoy的Marketplace所产生的影响，我们先来看看略有不同的IAP应用图表：

Tayjoy marketplace impact(from gamasutra)

TapJoy让Android和iOS在IAP上的盈利拉开了14%。在Android方面，TapJoy的Marketplace采用奖励安装模式，支持玩家下载应用以获得免费的虚拟货币。为了免费获得这些虚拟货币，玩家乐于下载其他应用并试用，尤其是免费应用。在我看来，这是个三赢战略，玩家免费获得货币，我们获得盈利，第三方应用制造商获得安装量。正是这个因素让Android与iOS的盈利有了显著的差别。

我个人认为，这体现了iOS和Android发展的关键差异。我们都知道，去年苹果禁止了TapJoy采用的这种奖励安装模式，因而现在App Store中的排行榜更能反映现实情况。但是，苹果忽然改变政策并强迫应用开发者做出调整，这种做法带来了很大的风险。谷歌似乎给开发者提供更自由的环境。我们都知道，苹果更重视保护隐私，而不是与开发者社区之间的关系。针对近期发布的第3代iPad，我们只有9天的时间来更新应用，迎接新设备的发布。

最终结论

最后，iOS和Android两个平台打成平局。但是，就目前行业广泛传播的Android盈利远弱于iOS的传言，Android在IAP应用上的胜利颇值得关注。Android当前允许的额外盈利方法是造成差异的主要原因。谷歌比苹果更看重开发者社区，所以我期望TapJoy和其他盈利市场能够不断在Android盈利方式上进行创新，Android要做的就是不断改善系统。此外，更好的Android平板电脑硬件和软件也有助于缩小Android和iOS在广告赞助应用上的差异。所有人都希望谷歌能够将此作为优先事务。

Appcelerator/IDC最近发布的报告显示，开发者渐渐对Android失去兴趣。报告中引述的主要原因是Android的设备和版本分裂性以及iOS更好的盈利机遇。系统分裂性的确给开发者带来很大的麻烦。游戏开发者习惯于iOS设备和版本数量较少的情况，所以当他们开始制作Android版本时自然会遇到诸多困难。

尽管如此，我依然不建议手机开发者放弃Android平台。从长远来看，只制定iOS发展战略是目光短浅的做法。Android有巨大的潜力，只是还未被充分发掘。目前有大量资源可以供开发者使用。如果你仍然在Android平台上感到力不从心，可以联系Mobile Deluxe，我们愿意分享制作和维护跨平台引擎的经验。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

In-depth: ‘Ignore Android at your own peril!’

Sean Thompson

The widespread industry consensus is that iOS handily beats Android as a revenue generating platform for game makers. For example, app store analytics company Distimo published a report last December stating that the iOS App Store has generated 6 times the revenue of Google Play (or The Artist Formerly Known as Android Market as we call it ’round these parts).

Around the same time, Flurry released an analysis of several top cross-platform apps that showed Android generating only 24% of the revenue of iOS. The same Flurry report shows that “Developer Project starts” (the number of new projects started by developers) skew very heavily toward iOS, proving that the developer community at-large agrees that iOS is the place to be.

So, is the conventional wisdom correct? No, based on the results we see here at Mobile Deluxe. In the case of ad-supported apps (where an app monetizes via banner ads/interstitials and doesn’t ask players to spend their own money), iOS appears to be the superior platform. But in the case of in-app purchase (IAP) supported apps (where the experience is ad-free, but players are asked to spend money to supplement their experience), Android is the clear winner.

The fact that Android outperforms iOS on a per user basis for our IAP-supported apps stands in stark contrast to conventional wisdom. Furthermore, the iOS advantage for ad-supported apps may be short-lived, but the Android advantage for IAP-supported apps is here to stay. Read on to find out why.

About the Data

Our primary ad-supported app is Solitaire Deluxe. We have over 1.5 million downloads on iOS and are approaching 1 million downloads on Android. Our most popular IAP-supported app is Big Win Slots. Big Win Slots has almost 1 million downloads on iOS and about 200,000 downloads on Android. All data for this analysis came from 2012 YTD results for those two apps. Revenue data used is ARPDAU (Average Revenue per Daily Active User).

Solitaire Deluxe results – Ad-supported favors iOS

As the chart above shows, iOS beats Android in ARPDAU by 35%. Why? The data points to two specific reasons: 1) iOS players generate more ad impressions per daily active user (DAU) and 2) The amount of revenue we make for every ad shown (aka eCPM, which is technically the net revenue we make for showing 1,000 ads) is significantly higher on iOS for part of the period.

Speaking to the first reason, higher ad impression per DAU figures appear to be caused by the iPad Effect. As I called out in my 2012 predictions post, 30% of our iOS ad impressions come from the iPad. Tablets have longer play sessions and generate more ad impressions for an ad-supported app. Because there is not a true Android equivalent to the iPad in terms of popularity, Android does not see the same overall level of engagement. This accounts for two-thirds of the difference between platforms.

The other one-third of the difference is attributable to higher eCPMs on iOS in the month of March. The eCPMs were equivalent for the first two months of the year, but the quarter-end is seeing good results for iOS. Android, not so much. This speaks to the general volatility one should expect with an ad-supported app. However, we have never seen Android eCPMs higher than iOS, but we have often seen eCPMs on iOS higher than those on Android. iOS takes the prize in this category as well.

Overall, iOS is the clear winner for our ad-supported app. However, there is no structural reason for that to continue ad infinitum. Long term, there has to be a viable Android tablet solution. Amazon’s Kindle Fire was a great first step for a mass market Android tablet, but Google needs to improve its operating system before Samsung, Asus and the other OEMs can compete with Apple in the high end. As for Ad eCPMS, we saw two months of similar results across the platforms. If not for the March uptick in iOS (which I am very happy about), the eCPMs would have been the same.

Big Win Slots results – IAP-supported favors Android

In the case of IAP-supported apps, Android wins the ARPDAU race by 24%. This difference can be attributed to two distinct influences: 1) IAP revenue per DAU dipped on iOS in January and 2) TapJoy’s Marketplace provided significant incremental revenue on Android above and beyond IAP.

For standard IAP revenue, February and March month-to-date were very similar across the two platforms: Android is ahead by approximately 2%. The month of January is a different story, as iOS lagged behind Android by 22%. That is enough of a difference to give Android a 10% advantage for the whole Q1-to-date period. Even if we exclude January as an anomaly and call it a tie, that’s big news. On a per user basis for our IAP Supported apps, Google Play is just as strong, or stronger, than Apple’s App Store.

To see the impact TapJoy’s Marketplace has, let’s look at a slightly different version of the IAP-supported chart:

TapJoy accounts for a full 14% of the difference between Android and iOS revenue for IAP. On Android, TapJoy’s Marketplace features incentivized app installs, which means the player can get free virtual currency in exchange for downloading an app. Players are happy to download another app, especially when it is free, and give it a try in exchange for free coins. It’s a win-win-win (player gets free coins, we get revenue, 3rd party app maker gets installs) as far as I am concerned. And it makes a significant revenue difference for Android.

In my opinion, this points to a key difference between iOS and Android moving forward. As we all know, Apple banned TapJoy’s incentivized app installs from iOS last year (and thank goodness they did, because now the Top lists in the App Store are completely pure). There is far more risk in Apple suddenly changing their policies and forcing app makers to adjust. Thus far, Google seems to be relatively hands-off. One thing we know for sure is that Apple values its secrecy far more than its relationship with its developer community. Witness the recent launch of the iPad 3 (don’t care, that’s what I’m calling it) and the nine days’ notice we were all given to get our apps resized and live before device launch.

Final Verdict

In the end, the final revenue score is iOS 1 – Android 1. However, given the widespread opinion that Android monetization lags far behind iOS, Android’s victory in IAP Supported apps is notable. The additional monetization methods that Android currently allows are the difference maker. Because Google is more accommodating than Apple, I expect Android to see the lion’s share of TapJoy and other monetization market leaders’ continued innovation; Android only stands to improve over time in this regard. Additionally, better Android tablet hardware and software could help close the gap between Android and iOS on the ad-supported front. One hopes that Google has that at the top of their to-do list.

As I finished writing this post, an Appcelerator/IDC report was released that shows that developers are slowly losing interest in Android. The main reason cited is Android device/version fragmentation and the better revenue opportunity on iOS. The fragmentation gripe is legitimate. Game makers accustomed to dealing with the limited number of devices that iOS requires are in for quite a shock when they start working with Android.

In spite of that, I cannot say this to my fellow mobile developers strongly enough: ignore Android at your own peril! Planning an iOS only release strategy is short-sighted and disastrous in the long run. Android is too big of an opportunity to leave undeveloped. There are ample resources out there providing best practices for developing for both iOS and Android. If you’re still struggling with it, feel free to reach out to us here at Mobile Deluxe and we can share some of our experiences creating and maintaining a cross-platform engine. (Source: Gamasutra)