Android Market Flaws Causing Developer Exodus?

gameloft01Android Market is far from perfect, but perhaps the situation is worse than we thought. According to Reuters, Gameloft and other large companies developing games and apps for Android are pulling back support for the platform, noting a lack in ROI. They say that the iPhone distribution model provides MUCH better visibility, leading to sales, leading to revenue – something that has disappointed them with Android .

The article should serve as a strong warning shot for Google that, while they have a TON of irons in the fire, they need to make Android Market a priority because DEVELOPERS are much of what fuels the success of Android:

BARCELONA (Reuters) – French mobile phone games company Gameloft said it and other software developers were cutting back investment in developing games and other applications for Google’s Android platform.

Android has won attention in the mobile industry lately, with Motorola and Sony Ericsson choosing it for their new top models.

“We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like … many others,” Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort said at an investor conference.

Rochefort said the company has cut back on investment mostly due to weaknesses of Android’s application store.

“It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue,” Rochefort said.

Games for iPhone generated 13 percent of Gameloft’s revenue in the last quarter. “We are selling 400 times more games on iPhone than on Android,” Rochefort said.

Developers – do you feel the same way? Have recommendations for Google on how to improve the market immediately? What needs to be done?

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