The iPhone 5 scooped up more good news today as yet more evidence reveals that Android users are simply not buying apps for their devices. Even as the latest data shows that iPhone/iOS users are gobbling up apps at more than a fifty percent increase over the previous year, Android developers are crying broke over not being able to sell their apps for even a smidgeon of a price tag.

To an extent this could mean that those who buy an Android phone are simply cheap and are not the types to pay for apps. But in an arena where most Android phones come with an initial price tag of some kind (and some Android phones are more expensive than the iPhone), and all smartphones come with a bill in the rough ballpark of a hundred bucks per month per user once all the fees are added up, the unwillingness on the part of Android users to buy paid apps even as iPhone users are gobbling up apps at an increasing rate and leaning more toward higher priced apps signals something deeper happening: Android users aren’t paying for apps because they’re mere squatters who don’t plan on being on the Android platform for long and they know they can’t take the apps with them.

People invest money into infrastructure for a house they own, but less so for a house they’re leasing – and almost nothing if they’re living in a short term rental they don’t plan to be in for long. They only investments they’ll make are in the kinds of things they know they can easily take with them and use in the next house. With the iPhone 5 around the corner and so many Android users having decided that it’ll be their jumping off point for iOS instead of Android OS, it’s no wonder they’re not willing to pour money into Android-specific apps and are instead sticking primarily to free apps. The ways in which this phenomenon can be attributed to a planned exodus in favor of the iPhone 5 are varied but all contain a similar theme.

Carrier – There are users who have wanted an iPhone since 2007 but haven’t been willing or able to move to AT&T, so they’ve gone with the best of what their current carrier has offered. In many cases that’s been Android. But with Verizon about to participate in the launch of a new iPhone for the first time with the iPhone 5, this marks the ideal jumping off point for Verizon customers. When it comes to T-Mobile and Sprint customers, although there’s no word yet on whether they’ll gain the iPhone 5, those users are expecting the iPhone to come to them eventually so they also see their Android experience as a short term rental.

Contract – Just because Verizon launched an iPhone 4 a few months ago doesn’t mean all of its Droid users have already reached upgrade-eligible pricing; in fact the vast majority haven’t. They’ll make their... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]