Google Play Store still top in downloads, narrows revenue gap with Apple App Store

The adoption of Google Android operating system by smartphone lovers has had a direct impact on its mobile app ecosystem as well. Android has a ton of exclusives now, which was one of the biggest selling points for its main rival, iOS.

As Android smartphones are becoming cheaper and Apple not relenting on their high pricing in some markets, Android has become the preferred choice for most buyers over an iOS device. This is reflected in the number of app downloads on Android, as compared to iOS.

The report by app analytics firm App Annie shows the dominance of Google Play Store over the App Store as far as downloads are concerned. Google Play has approximately 45 percent more downloads than the App Store, the report says. This growth has been largely driven by increasing adoption in regions like Mexico, Turkey and Brazil.

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According to the report, US retain its top spot with Brazil and Russia making the top three in number of downloads. South Korea and India rounded up the top five for highest downloads for Q1 2014. Unsurprisingly, games see the highest number of download followed by apps in the Communication, Tools, Entertainment and Social categories.

In the App Store too, games saw the most number of download for Q1, followed by apps in the Entertainment, Photo and Video, Social Networking and Lifestyle categories. The countries with most App Store downloads were US, China, Japan, UK and Russia.

It is not all gloomy for the App Store. It beats Play Store where it matters the most: revenue. In fact, as was revealed late last year, iOS developers earn five times more than Android developers. For every $1 earned by iOS developers, an Android counterpart earned just $0.19 in November last year. Just like last year, this year too the App Store has earned more revenue than Play Store. But Google's store has been able to close the revenue gap with App Store significantly. App Store generated about 85 percent more revenue than Google Play, though Google narrowed the gap in revenue with an increase in the US and UK. China has emerged as the top contributor to download and revenue sections of iOS App Store. This is thanks to a recent deal between Apple and China Mobile.

According to the report, US and China were the major revenue contributors. But the surprise contribution came from smaller markets like South Africa and Vietnam. The top five revenue-contributing sections on App Store, in descending order, are Games, Social Networking, Music, Education and Entertainment.