Considering their utility and the time it takes to develop them it is perhaps surprising that the vast majority of apps are not paid for but free. Over 90% of apps available on the Apple IOS system by April 2013 did not have a download fee. The extent of free applications available means that average prices for apps are low; Android $0.06, IOS $0.19
Exploring how much apps typically make through download fees and variations between the key operating systems shed further light on the prevalence of free apps and why many developers are turning away from a pay to download model. For apps that do have a download cost 20-30% generally goes to the distribution provider. It is therefore hard for app producers to make money from their products unless their app is capable of generating a very large number of downloads. The following table give us a better idea of how feasible that is.
Table 1) app development, download and retail statistics, adapted from Forbes