Android apps found to be more expensive than iOS apps

App Store Apps

For those of you who might be under the impression that apps available on the iTunes App Store are more expensive than Android apps, research firm Canalys is out with a new study that proves otherwise.

Canalys found that on average, Android apps cost 2.5 times more than iPhone apps…

Canalys added together the top 100 paid-for apps in both the Android Market and iTunes App Store. The Android Market’s top 100 paid-for apps added up to be $374.37, which averages out at $3.74 an app, while the iTunes App Store’s top 100 paid-for apps only added to be $147, an average of $1.47 per app.

The survey reveals that the top paid-for Android apps are priced dramatically higher than those on iOS for the iPhone. In the US, to purchase the top 100 paid-for apps in the Android Market would cost $374.37 – an average of $3.74 per app – more than 2.5 times the cost of the top 100 paid-for iPhone apps. The top 100 iPhone apps would cost $147.00, or $1.47 on average per app.

So why do Android apps cost so much, compared to apps available on the App Store? Canalys contributes this to the fewer amount of people on the Android Market that are willing to purchase apps. Developers instead have to charge more to break even.

As Fortune notes, Electronic Art’s popular Monopoly app costs $4.99 on Android and $0.99 on the iPhone.

Apple’s in-app purchase system could also contribute to the lower price on the App Store. Developers are able to charge less for their apps in hopes of making money later off in-app goods. Apple’s App Store also has much higher competitiveness for app’s pricing. While, Google’s Android Market has always been thought to be less consumer friendly.

When it comes to apps published to both Apple and Google’s app stores, only 19 were found on the top 100 paid lists for both stores.

Despite low prices, developers on Apple’s App Store are making serious money. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook announced in its fiscal Q1 2012 earnings call that developers have pocketed a whopping $4 billion dollars in total app sales.

Approaching 25 billion app downloads, Apple’s App Store shows no signs of slowing down.