App Annie: Google Play revenue increased 90% in Q1 2013

App Annie's latest index report shows that Google Play has begun to approach Apple's App Store in terms of app revenue. In the fourth quarter of 2012, Apple's App Store's revenue was four times that of Google Play, but in the first quarter of 2013, this figure had dropped to 2.6 times.

The report also pointed out that the growth rate of the Android market has exceeded that of Apple's iOS platform. However, although Google Play's downloads have reached 90% of the App Store, the latter still leads the former in terms of revenue.

App Annie also made some special findings:

• In most countries, including the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea, games are still growing strongly, especially in terms of revenue. In the first quarter of 2013, game revenue accounted for about 80% of Google Play's total revenue and 70% of App Store's total revenue.
• Photo and video apps have become the third most downloaded category on the iOS platform, and education apps have risen to fourth place in terms of revenue on the iOS platform.
• Social applications also ranked among the top five in Google Play category download rankings.

Android Country Distribution

In terms of Android downloads, the top five countries are: the United States, South Korea, India, Russia and Japan. The total downloads of the top four countries account for 40% of the total downloads. In the past year, Russia's downloads have been steadily increasing and rose to fourth place in the last quarter. South Korea and India continue to maintain their second and third positions, second only to the United States.

In terms of revenue, the top five countries are: Japan, South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. In fact, in the fourth quarter of 2012, Japan had already surpassed the United States to become the number one on this list. Now South Korea has also caught up and surpassed the United States to rank second. These three countries dominate Google Play's revenue, accounting for about 70% of the global total revenue.

iOS Country Distribution

In terms of iOS downloads, the top five countries are: the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Japan and France. The United States still maintains a large lead, while China has been rising rapidly in recent months. In fact, in the last two quarters, China has been the leader in the increase in total downloads. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom and Japan have been in the third and fourth positions. According to the App Annie report, the total downloads of the top four countries account for about half of the total downloads on the iOS platform.

In terms of revenue, the top five countries are: the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, China and Australia. The United States and Japan still maintain their lead, and the combined revenue of the two countries accounts for almost half of the total revenue. It is worth noting that China's revenue ranking has risen: last year China barely made it into the top ten, but now it ranks fourth.

Outlook for 2013

When it comes to market share, Android is still going strong and shows no signs of slowing down. According to the App Store report, iOS is still not popular enough in the US. By the end of the year, Google Play may reach a level comparable to or even surpass the App Store in one of the above indicators.

Article from: 36kr