Google Play overtakes the App Store in downloads; iOS apps still generating more revenue
The inevitable has finally happened. Google Play has displaced Apple’s App Store to take the top spot as far as downloads are concerned.
The inevitable has finally happened. Google Play has displaced Apple’s App Store to take the top spot as far as downloads are concerned. The App Store, however, has still managed to hold on to the crown of generating more revenue than its Android counterpart.
According to an App Annie Index report, Google Play exceeded the App Store in downloads by 10 percent in Quarter 2 of 2013. The growth in download numbers for Android comes from a huge part played by emerging markets of Russia, India, China and Brazil.
Google ahead as far as downloads go but Apple still leads revenue race
Of course, the iOS App Store still rules the roost as far as generating revenue is concerned. It leads Google Play by nearly 130 percent, even though the chasm between the two OS Marketplaces is diminishing quickly. Countries that topped revenue generation on the App Store, like the US, Japan and United Kingdom, remained usual suspects . None of these three countries changed ranks compared to Q1 revenue this year. Australia on the other hand, did manage to topple China to become the fourth top country to generate revenue for the App Store.
As far as downloads are concerned on the Google Play store, India managed to remain in the number three position on the list, only behind the US and South Korea. However, India figures nowhere in the top five list of revenue generating countries in the Google Play store.
Unsurprisingly, Games has remained the number one category on both download and revenue generation lists on the Google Play store as well as the App Store. Communication apps have been all the rage on Google Play this quarter, as the category climbed up two spots to be right below Games. Popularity of apps like Line, WeChat, Skype, WhatsApp Messenger, and Viber are the reason behind the category doing so well.
More from News AnalysisAll eyes will now be on Q3 results since both Google and Apple have great stuff lined up on their roadmap for the year. While Apple is rumoured to be releasing the iPhone 5S and a cheaper iPhone 5C, Google has just sent out Android version 4.3 Jelly Bean updates and has the Moto X lined up for release. We could be seeing slightly different numbers in the next quarter results.
Intrigued by all things social, Nishtha will invariably tweet about you. When not tweeting or writing about the next viral video, you will hear her proclaiming her love to Metallica, James Hetfield, Opeth, Akerfeldt and all bands that go 'growl'. She also obsesses about ACP Pradyuman and South Park and you will always find her moving around with a book. Her focus is on all the happening stuff in the tech domain, and she won't hesitate to take a shot at some of the oddball devices that make their way to our labs.
Why AI notetakers are raising serious privacy and security concerns
China's low-cost AI models are changing the global AI race. Here's why Silicon Valley is worried
China's Kimi K3 challenges US AI leaders with frontier-level performance at lower cost
How did Instagram run ads promoting child abuse in India?
Why has India halted WhatsApp’s username feature before launch?