iOS App Store Generates Twice as Much Revenue as Google's Play Store
Posted by Rounak Jain on Apr 17, 2013 in App Store
App analytics firm App Annie has released its quarterly data on mobile app downloads across the iOS and Android ecosystems, revealing that while the Play Store is catching up to the App Store in terms of number of apps and app downloads, it still trails way behind when it comes to revenues.
From App Annie's blog:
While the iOS App Store and Google Play both had solid gains in app downloads last quarter, Google Play had a higher percentage growth rate as well as a greater gain in absolute downloads. As of Q1 2013, Google Play's app downloads were close to 90% of iOS App Store downloads.
From Q4 2012 to Q1 2013, iOS App Store quarterly revenue grew by roughly one-quarter. Meanwhile, Google Play app revenue grew by roughly 90%. While Google Play had the higher growth rate, the iOS App Store gained more in absolute revenue and earned about 2.6x that of Google Play in Q1.
The lack of willingness to pay for apps amongst Android users has been pointed out time and again, but the growth in revenues is definitely encouraging for Android developers.
App Annie notes that China has started to play an increasingly significant role in iOS App Store download numbers, and that the U.S. and Japan collectively account for half of the App Store's revenue. Games continues to be a major hit with iOS users, who spend 70 percent of their money on apps belonging to this category, mostly on freemium games.
Many iOS developers refuse to develop for Android citing the lack of revenues. Given that this trend is changing, would iOS developers start making high-quality Android apps? And more importantly, if this does happen, would you be more willing to switch to Android?