Nokia to give carriers a cut of Ovi store sales

Nokia will allow mobile phone operators to profit from its Ovi app store by offering consumers the option of paying for new apps on their phone bill.

Nokia has confirmed with iTnews that the Finnish phone company will offer Australian consumers the ability to pay for mobile apps from its Ovi app store via their phone bill - but is yet to confirm which local carriers are signed up to participate.

Nokia developers will receive a 70 per cent cut when their apps are purchased from the soon-to-launch Ovi store via credit card - minus taxes, refunds and returns.  

But developers will share the spoils with mobile phone operators should the consumer pay for the app using their billing arrangement with their carrier.

In this case, the developer receives a 70 per cent cut, again minus taxes, refunds and returns, but also "minus fixed operator billing charges."

Mobile operators will take a 40 per cent cut of app sales above €3 (A$5.54), a 45 per cent cut for apps sold between €2 and €3, and a 50 per cent cut for apps sold anywhere between free and €2.

Nokia developers will pay a €50 joining fee to submit applications to the Ovi store, but unlike Microsoft or RIM (Blackberry) will not charge developers a fee for every application they submit for sale.

Nokia said there are 50 million phones globally that will be able to access the app store.

For a complete comparison of the app stores of Apple, Windows Mobile, RIM (Blackberry), Nokia and Android, see iTnews' updated analysis.