The Android Market has serious competition. While some may have shrugged off Amazon's attempt at creating a mobile application market, a preview of the Amazon's new creation shows it's competitive not only in content but also in price.
Whether it's the Walmart-ization of the apps market or not, Amazon is offering Android apps a few pennies or dollars cheaper than the Android Market. Its new "Android Appstore" was found by Androidnews, a German website, and showed 48 apps -- some offered at a significant discount from the Android Market. Most notably was Scan2PDF Mobile 2.0 which was offered at $3.99 versus $6.44.
The address where the page was discovered, www.amazon.com/apps, is no longer available. This makes it harder to figure out if this was just an error on Amazon's part, or whether it was a mock-up page or a real one. So far, Amazon has been very coy about the launch of the app store other than saying it's "coming soon," but many are guessing a March 22 launch to coincide with the "Angry Birds Rio" launch -- because it's an Amazon Android Appstore exclusive.
Cheaper prices are always good for the consumer, but the price differences are not hugely different -- most are only pennies cheaper. The real difference will be in what games or apps will be made exclusively for Amazon or the Android Market. This could mean a better distribution system, perhaps with content, reviews and real analysis of the apps themselves, rather than users blindly trying obscure apps. That may be what differentiates between a user-friendly market and a dull electronic stall.
