Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is expanding Android Market mobile game sales to the South Korea market. "For paid games, purchasing is fast and convenient through direct carrier billing, which lets users in Korea easily charge their purchases to their monthly mobile operator bills," writes Android Developer Ecosystem chief Eric Chu. "If you are a game developer, now is the time to localize your game resources, app descriptions, and marketing assets to take advantage of this new opportunity. When you are ready, please visit the Android Market developer console to target your app for distribution in South Korea and set prices in Korean Won (KRW). If you don't want to distribute to Korea right away, you can also exclude it."
In terms of overall Android Market app download volumes, South Korea trails only the U.S. according to recent Research2Guidance data. While U.S. consumers generate more than 50 percent of all Android Market downloads, corresponding to close to 3.5 billion installs to date, South Korea follows at 9 percent, trailed by the U.K., Germany and France. Looking at the international market on a downloads-per-user basis, Android device owners in Korea download roughly 3.5 apps each month, ahead of the U.S. but behind markets including the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. Research2Guidance adds that the average user in major Android markets installs two or three apps each month.
Android powers 52.5 percent of all smartphones sold worldwide during the third quarter of 2011, more than doubling its global market share over a year ago, according to data issued last month by research firm Gartner. Sales of Android smartphones topped 60 million, more than tripling sales of Symbian-based products at 19.5 million (translating to a market share of 16.9 percent, down from 36.3 percent a year ago). Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone follows with sales of 17.3 million, up from 13.5 million a year ago; its global market share nevertheless dipped to 15.0 percent from 16.6 percent in the third quarter of 2010.
For more:
- read this Android Developers Blog entry
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