The Amazon AppStore, which was launched on March 22, started with a bang with some free daily applications to attract users. And the first free app on the app store was none other than the popular Angry Birds Rio, 10 million copies of which has so far been sold.
Amazon then offered other popular games such as the SwiftKey, Soundhound Infinity and Talking Tom Cat under its ‘Free App of the Day’ programme.
Interestingly, Amazon again turned to Angry Birds Rio as one of the free application sparking off speculations that it does not have enough premium apps to keep the promotion go on.
Of course, it may happen that Amazon wants the users to have one more chance to download Angry Birds Rio!
The viability of Amazon’s offer has always been doubted.
The Amazon AppStore is also reportedly facing problems.
Some app developers have also complained that they could not access their app sales page on Amazon AppStore. Amazon has also acknowledged to the problem.
Another problem that has been there from day one is the messy installation process of Amazon AppStore on Android smartphones, not an easy experience for the users.
Amazon needs to either get into hardware, or work with another company which allows Amazon AppStore pre-installed on the handsets. It makes sense for Amazon to work with Google, because Google hasn’t got its retail experience right, either with the launch of Google Nexus One or even Android Market. On the other hand, Amazon is just great at retail.