A bit late to the discussion, but this is still a hot enough topic to warrant a few comments. There has been some controversy over Nokia allowing content for it’s new Ovi Store to flow in unmoderated. This is likely at least partly a reaction to the criticism Apple has taken in relation to it’s App Store approval process. Some claim it’s too slow and the acceptance criteria are vague at best, in some cases even hypocritical. But handset manufacturers like Apple and Nokia have more to worry about than just content moderation, maybe most notably the payment process.

Apple took a risk going with a credit card-only model, but they had absolutely nothing to loose and everything to gain. Nokia, Sony-Ericsson and others have life-sustaining relationships with operators in that the operator distribution model is critical to their success.

In running their own branded content portals, the manufactures have two primary billing choices:

1. Use the same old billing mechanisms (SMS, WAP) that many subscribers either don’t understand or have grown to hate, or
2. Use alternative billing like credit card and risk operator relationships.

The answer – Nokia uses both. Granted it’s a much smoother process than we are used to, but compare the following process to the one-click Apple model.

From Nokia:

1. Select the item you want to purchase.
2. Select Buy .
3. Enter your Nokia account user name and password. If you do not have an account, select Create a Nokia account , and enter the required information.
4. Select to pay using your credit card or through your phone bill. If you already have your credit card information stored in your Nokia account, and you want to use another credit card, select Edit payment settings , and enter the required information. To save your credit card information to your Nokia account, select the Save this card to my Nokia account check box.
5. Select the e-mail address to which you want to receive a receipt of your purchase.
6. Select Purchase

Behind the scenes, Nokia claims this iteration of Ovi is a bit of a band-aid to stop the flow of blood Apple has created with it’s game-changing App Store. I’m certain they have something better on the way and look forward to seeing what it is.

In contrast to the Build and Run it approach of Nokia’s Ovi and Apple’s App Store, the newly announced Sony Ericsson store will be powered by GetJar. This partnership demonstrates another approach – mandate someone to do it for you. Speaking from experience – we have done content aggregation for mobile operators – it’s an expensive and time consuming process to do well. In this case, GetJar has the experience to do it well and one assumes they can do it more cheaply through economies of scale.

One key take away from this, the best content will sit on the virtual shelves unless the buying process is clean and simple and the App stores provide excellent discovery tools. Customers must be able to find and purchase content with minimal effort. This will leave them with a good feeling and assure return visits, and more importantly, purchases.