AppAnnie: 2013 App Market Report

In the new year, it is necessary to review the past year, and App Annie has given us this opportunity. Recently, App Annie released its 2013 annual report, which made a detailed summary of the iOS and Google Play app markets. 36Kr has made a partial summary of the report, which I believe will bring value to app developers:

1. Google Play's app downloads worldwide exceed those of iOS, but iOS still brings more revenue to developers:

In 2013, Google Play's app downloads exceeded iOS App Store's by 15%. However, despite the strong downloads, iOS still brought more revenue to developers, and its annual app revenue was more than twice that of Google Play. Of course, judging from the chart, Google Play's revenue growth this year is still quite significant.

2. Driven by strong mobile games and Google Play, Japan's app revenue in 2013 increased 3.3 times compared to 2012, surpassing the United States to become the largest country in terms of app revenue. By October 2013, the top three countries in terms of monthly app revenue on iOS App Store and Google Play were Japan, the United States and South Korea.

3. In 2013, it was not only these countries that stood out, but also the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) including China. App Annie put the growth of the app stores in these four countries together and found that Japan, South Korea, and the United States had a 1-fold increase in downloads and a 5-fold increase in revenue (iOS + Google Play) in 2013, while BRIC had an 8-fold increase in downloads and a 7-fold increase in revenue (by the way, if the Chinese market was not measured by Google Play, it would be more impressive). The market growth of the other five regions (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mexico, Indonesia, and Thailand) was also good, with a 6-fold increase in downloads and an 8-fold increase in revenue. App Annie is optimistic about the performance of these five regions in 2014.

The above application revenue information is based on the total of iOS + Google Play, but looking at iOS application revenue alone, the progress of the Chinese market is huge. It has risen by 4 places in the country ranking of iOS application revenue to become the fourth largest.

4. With the popularization of smart mobile devices, mobile game consumption exceeded the revenue of handheld game consoles in the first quarter of 2013. By the third quarter, the game revenue of iOS + Google Play was three times that of the handheld game console market.

5. Although we have discussed new models besides the Freemium model, the freemium model still showed its value in 2013. In 2012, the freemium model brought 86% of the revenue for mobile games, and by 2013, this proportion had reached 93%. In the revenue of non-game applications, the freemium model also brought 57% of the revenue for applications. The freemium model has been applied to messaging, music, news and dating applications.

6. Social messaging apps performed well in 2013. The following chart shows the ranking of popular messaging apps in various countries based on app revenue. According to App Annie’s observation, many messaging apps have added mobile game elements to their apps, and the free value-added model and personalized emoticons have also stimulated in-app purchases. In addition, messaging app-based platforms are also expanding, incorporating music, books, and e-commerce functions (it should be said that mobile payments and O2O are also the same).

7. In terms of other categories of applications, App Annie focused on music apps, photo & video apps, and financial apps. Music app revenue increased by 77% year-on-year, while social photo & video apps were no longer so niche in 2013. The top ten related apps grew by 55% in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared with the same period last year. In addition to the old social platforms Instagram and YouTube, these apps also include Snapchat and Vine, and the editing app is the well-known Camera360. Vine and Snapchat have not yet become popular in China, but these two models have many followers (this may be the domestic opportunity in 2014).

Mobile banking, mobile payment and financial management applications also brought growth. The download volume of financial-related apps (including Bitcoin-related apps) increased by 55% in 2013 compared with the same period last year, with Google Play seeing a significant increase.

8. App Annie's report has statistics on global and national application downloads. In terms of download volume, the top ten global game and non-game applications in 2013 are as follows, among which WeChat ranks tenth among non-game applications. Among global game and non-game applications, Tiny Piece (game category), Jiubang Digital, Tencent, and Baidu are the top ten developers in terms of download volume (calculating by revenue is another matter).

In the Chinese market, Tencent took the top three spots in game app downloads, and QQ, WeChat, and QQ Music were also in the top ten in non-game apps. Baidu's non-game apps included Baidu Video, Baidu, iQiyi Video, and PPS in the top ten. Alibaba's Taobao and Alipay ranked third and fourth, and Youku was the only non-BAT non-game app in the top ten.

Except for Apple, the top ten developers of non-gaming applications in China (by download volume) are all Chinese developers, including Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba, Meitu, Sohu, BabyBus, NetEase, Sina, and Youku Tudou.

But if we rank apps by revenue, the situation is different. According to App Annie data, in the Chinese market (based on iOS + Google Play), the dating products of Jiayuan.com, Momo, and Baihe.com are all in the top ten in terms of revenue, while the top ten apps include Changba, navigation apps, WeChat, and Magic Kids.

9. There are many changes in the top ten categories of iOS apps this year. In terms of download volume, the tool category has fallen out of the top three. In terms of iOS app revenue, social and music apps have become the most profitable apps besides games.

The impact on pure tool apps is also the same on Google Play. Tools apps fell out of the top three in terms of app revenue, while communication and social apps became the second and third in terms of app revenue (games ranked first). The fourth category in terms of app revenue is travel and local transportation (including maps, reviews, and travel apps).

via:36KR