This is something that should make Google worried. Amazon is reported to be planning its own Android application store, to compete with the Android Market that Google runs.
While several operators, such as Verizon and China Mobile, have also planned Android shopfronts, carriers generally have a poor track record in such activities. Not so Amazon, the master of the usable, addictive web-based store experience.
Citing sources which were under non-disclosure agreements, the TechCrunch blog reported that Amazon plans to sell premium and free Android applications and will deter developers from discounting their products in rival shops.
Amazon will attempt this by offering them either the standard 70% of the app purchase price, or alternatively 20% of the list price on the purchase date.
Like other Amazon extensions, such as its movie rental and Kindle ebook services, the Amazon Android Store will initially be confined to the US, but will move to other territories over time. As you would expect from Amazon, this will be a far more tightly controlled affair than Android Market.
All apps will include digital rights management so that they only run on devices approved by the huge online retailer, and like Apple, it will charge a $99 annual registration fee.