There are a lot of reasons why app sales on Android aren't as stellar as on iOS, but I feel many people see it as a failure of Android as an OS. This is wrong,

There are a lot of reasons why app sales on Android aren't as stellar as on iOS, but I feel many people see it as a failure of Android as an OS. This is wrong, because as an OS, Android has been a complete success, and shown that giving people options is a good thing. The main reason Android app sales suffer so much is really two fold, the Google App Marketplace isn't as well crafted as the Apple App Store. It is much better than it used to be, but is missing things that give rise to huge sales. The other issue I believe lies with who is actually using Android phones. If you take a look at iOS versus Android, you have to take into account that most people that buy one or the other tend to stick with their said choice. With that in mind, that means with iOS capturing a large if not majority stake in the more advanced user base, ones that don't mind spending money on apps, means apps on iOS are purchased more often. Android on the other hand has a similarly devoted crowd, but it would seem the majority of Android users are actually feature phone converts. These people aren't as likely to spend money on apps, add to that the App Marketplace not being as good as it could be, you are left with users that don't purchase apps much or at all. I think time will change this, but it definitely is something to consider when developing for each platform. I doubt iOS will continue to pay out in spades like it has previously, as more and more apps flood the App Store, it will just be harder to compete with incumbents as they will have a foothold on their particular app's functionality.