Skyhook Wireless, which supplies location positioning to chipmakers, mobile hardware OEMs and apps publishers, published (.pdf) the results of an October survey of 30 mobile app developers. This is a follow-up of sorts to an early 2009 developer survey by Skyhook that sought to assess developer interest levels in the various smartphone platforms.

This is a small sample. But if these survey findings can be generalized or are representative of the larger developer community's satisfaction levels -- let's assume that they are directionally -- it's not good for Android as a platform.

Here are the top-level findings:

• 57% of developers said they are not satisfied with their profits on Android.
• 90% of developers reported individual app downloads of 10,000 or under on Android.
• 52% of Android developers’ apps were downloaded fewer than 5,000 times.  
• Developers are concerned that Google Checkout contributes to their low download volumes.
• 43% feel that they would sell more apps if Android used a carrier billing or another simpler billing system.
• 82% of those surveyed feel that the design of the Android Marketplace makes it difficult for apps to be noticed.
• 68% of those surveyed are somewhat or not likely to put further work into their apps, compared to when they first released their app.

Source: Skyhook Wireless (11/09, n=30)

The question here is: how important are apps to the ultimate success of the Android platform? Android ultimately is about the browser and the mobile Internet as apps platform. However the failure to maintain a healthy apps marketplace will harm Android's reputation among consumers.

This is not the first time developers have griped about Android. I have heard some developers, however, discuss that they like the open platform and the ability to "iterate" accordingly without the need to get repeated approvals before pushing new versions live. Future versions of the Android Marketplace promise a better user experience, which may help with downloads and revenues.