- Back in 2008, Google only wanted to collect a small charge to cover the costs of handling and billing on the Android Market.
- The company then settled on keeping 5% of the app store proceeds as revenue share.
- In contrast, by H1 2020, the Google Play Store accounted for a whopping $4.4 billion in operating profits.
When we think of Android phones today, we don’t necessarily think of phones running stock, barebones Android. Instead, we think of phones that have access to a wide variety of third-party apps and games that can serve all of our present needs, and for that, we need the Google Play Store, which is part of Google Mobile Services. The Play Store has become an essential part of the Android experience, but it seems even Google didn’t expect it to turn out this way in the early days of Android.
Back in 2008, when the Google Play Store was known as the Android Market, the then-Head of Android Developer Ecosystem, Mr. Eric Chu, mentioned in an internal FAQ that “Google will not be operating the Android Market as a profit center,” and that Google will “collect a small charge to cover costs of handling and billing.” Google ended up keeping 5% as revenue share, while 25% went to carriers and 30% to developers.