A new report from mobile app analytics company, Distimo shows that revenue is up for the Google Play store. Last November, revenue from Google Play made up only 19 percent of combined total revenue between Apple’s App Store and Google Play. By April 2013, Google Play’s share had increased to 27 percent of the combined total revenue. Apple is still on top, with 73 percent of the pie, but this is a strong positive trend for Google.
They report went on to analyze why there’s still such a discrepancy between the competing mobile app stores:
An explanation for the revenue gap in these two stores in the U.S. is twofold. First, some popular publishers develop only applications on iOS rather than in both major stores. An illustrative example of one of these developers is Supercell. Although this publisher has not published any application in Google Play, it was still one of the top performers in terms of combined revenue generated from the Apple App Store and Google Play. Second, overall applications that were offered in both stores still made more money in the Apple App Store than in Google Play in the United States. Candy Crush Saga by King.com and The Simpsons: Tapped Out by Electronic Arts are illustrative applications that were popular on both platforms in the U.S. and generated much more revenue on iOS compared to Google Play in April 2013.
The report largely chalked the growth of Google Play’s store up to the growing European, Japanese, and South Korean markets. According to Distimo, these markets have played a major part in Google Play’s recent growth.
The report didn’t delve into the rise of affordable Android handsets that have increased the platforms install base greatly in recent years. It’s commonly held that affordable devices are one of Android’s strong suits. However, the report shows clearly that user base doesn’t necessarily equal app revenue.
Google Play is starting to slowly catch up, but the Apple App Store is still leading the market by a wide margin. The United States is still the largest market when considering the total combined revenue of both stores. The daily revenue for the top 200 grossing apps in Google Play was $1.1 million, while the top 200 apps in the Apple Store were bringing in $5.1 million a day. So Google still has a lot of catching up to do.
You can find Distimo’s full analysis in the link below!
[Via: Distimo]