Apple's iOS App Store users spent $11.5 billion in Q4, 95% more than Google Play
Google's Android store is pushing record numbers of app downloads to its users, with growth largely coming from developing countries. Android's ecosystem remains far less profitable than Apple's iOS App Store, however, which again grabbed the lion's share of customer spend on mobile apps despite handling fewer than half as many downloads.
Source: App Annie
A report by app analytics firm AppAnnie stated that Google Play is now serving 145 percent more apps globally, even despite having little influence in China, the world's largest and most commercially important audience of app users.
In the winter quarter, new app downloads (not counting re-installs or updates) across both stores approached 27 billion, with Google Play representing more than 19 billion and the App Store accounting for roughly the remaining 8 billion. The pace of downloads globally grew at 7 percent over the previous year.
However, revenue from app sales and subscriptions grew far faster: 20 percent over the previous year. Of a total a $17 billion spent on mobile apps, Apple accounted for $11.5 billion, leaving Google with the scraps: around $5 billion despite processing nearly one and a half times as many downloads.
Rather than rushing to claim market share in hardware units, Apple has focused on building a valuable customer base, not only in the U.S., Europe and Japan, but in China--a region that most American hardware and software firms have been essentially locked out of--as well as in emerging regions including India and Vietnam.
As a result, Apple is not only earning sustainable hardware profits but is also attracting valuable customers who buy services and pay for apps. AppAnnie noted that the top grossing app by customer spend was Netflix. Low commercial performance relative to Apple by Google Play indicates that Android users are significantly less likely to be paying for subscription content. The high rate of bootleg apps and content shared among Android users has the side effect of causing developers to focus premium app development on iOS first, and often exclusively.
Source: App Annie
A report by app analytics firm AppAnnie stated that Google Play is now serving 145 percent more apps globally, even despite having little influence in China, the world's largest and most commercially important audience of app users.
In the winter quarter, new app downloads (not counting re-installs or updates) across both stores approached 27 billion, with Google Play representing more than 19 billion and the App Store accounting for roughly the remaining 8 billion. The pace of downloads globally grew at 7 percent over the previous year.
However, revenue from app sales and subscriptions grew far faster: 20 percent over the previous year. Of a total a $17 billion spent on mobile apps, Apple accounted for $11.5 billion, leaving Google with the scraps: around $5 billion despite processing nearly one and a half times as many downloads.
Rather than rushing to claim market share in hardware units, Apple has focused on building a valuable customer base, not only in the U.S., Europe and Japan, but in China--a region that most American hardware and software firms have been essentially locked out of--as well as in emerging regions including India and Vietnam.
As a result, Apple is not only earning sustainable hardware profits but is also attracting valuable customers who buy services and pay for apps. AppAnnie noted that the top grossing app by customer spend was Netflix. Low commercial performance relative to Apple by Google Play indicates that Android users are significantly less likely to be paying for subscription content. The high rate of bootleg apps and content shared among Android users has the side effect of causing developers to focus premium app development on iOS first, and often exclusively.
Comments
BUT it's simply astonishing how well Apple manage to outperform Google in this respect. Google have got no excuse for not doing better.
Out of interest; if Google are 'having little influence in China' who is?
To the poster who asked about China and why that matters: According to the AI article China is Apple's most profitable market, surpassing even the US, and a country where Google has no Play Store and thus no app income. Games are a BIG DEAL in China, and games and the associated in-app purchases account for roughly 75% of Apple's total App Store revenues.
EDIT: TBH I didn't even know about subscribing to Netflix via a smartphone app. I would'a thought most folks would just subscribe direct, or via the link when they use a smart TV or Roku. So now I know.
Now obviously I understand that's not the entire Android user base, but it's a much larger portion than it is of the iOS user base.
This just reinforces that Harvard study done that Android users are financially less secure and lower education, and tend to go much more for the free crap apps whenever they can, or blatantly steal from third-party sources and end up with infected devices.
And as far as Android buyers having less disposable cash than iPhone buyers that's another no-brainer, no Harvard study required (obviously). Ya got more money and ya' got less worry about the budget and ya buy more expensive stuff...
but we need a study to demonstrate that.
This article seems to mix it all up into one big mish mash and steps over the reality that 'Android' is more than the 'Play Store' when it comes to apps even if it does mention Google's lack of presence in China
Drawing conclusions on 'Android users' by just looking at 'Play Store' data is disingenuous apart from missing the real point on app store revenue in a Google perspective. Google uses Android to spread its revenue generators out to users, one of which just happens to be the Google Play Store. Apart from that, its revenue generators extend beyond Android to Apple's hardware and into many other areas.
you need to realize that the bulk of cell-phone sales in China are dumb-phones.