Amazon this morning publicly launched in-app purchasing for apps sold through its Appstore for Android, hoping to make its mobile platform more financially appealing to app developers. The company had previously been reported to be testing the system.
The purchases work through customers’ Amazon accounts, with features including Amazon 1-Click purchasing. The company says it will give developers 70 percent of the list price for all items purchased inside apps.
Examples of purchases include in-game currency, magazine issues and expansion packs inside games.
Since the launch of the Appstore last year, Amazon has taken a different approach with the broader sale of apps, following its longtime practice of seeking to control the ultimate price. The company reserves the right to discount the price of apps, or offer them for free. It then gives developers either 70 percent of the sale price of the app or 20 percent of the list price, whichever is greater.
That isn’t changing, but with the rollout of in-app purchasing, the company is hoping to give developers a stronger incentive to offer apps through its Appstore. Amazon’s financial model for in-app purchasing is the same as the 70-30 split that Apple has made a standard for apps.
Amazon says developers who have tested the app include ZeptoLab, Disney, Glu Mobile Inc., Storm8, Social Gaming Network, Gameloft, G5 Entertainment and publishers Condé Nast, Dow Jones and New York Post.
As noted by Tricia Duryee of AllThingsD, one potential future use of in-app purchasing would be the purchase of real merchandise from apps, leveraging Amazon’straditional e-commerce system. Amazon isn’t saying if that’s in the works.
