Following a period of invitation-only beta testing, Amazon has made its in-app purchasing API available to the Amazon Appstore developer community.

Amazon's IAP solution uses the company's 1-Click purchasing system, making it possible for any user with an account -including millions of Kindle Fire users - to easily purchase expansion packs, in-game currency, and subscriptions.

Amazon also claims that the API is "simple for you to integrate, and cost-effective to get up and running quickly."

Of course, the store and Kindle Fire is currently limited to customers with North American Amazon accounts. 

Flurry of activity

The news opens the doors for the freemium business model on Amazon's Appstore, and the firm has announced that it will be employing the typical 70:30 revenue cut. 

One significant aspect, however, is that, as with the pricing of apps on the store, Amazon can choose to discount in-app purchases as it sees fit.

Developer revenue should be unaffected, though, since royalties are calculated using list-prices rather than the actual sale price.

Indeed, mobile publisher Storm8 already claims to have generated over $700,000 in IAPs during March thanks to its access to the beta program.



[source: Amazon via TechCrunch]