BEIJING: Due to Android’s sizable market share, Google Play apps have historically led iOS apps in terms of the number of downloads, while iOS apps have consistently beat out Google Play apps in revenue. But according to new data out this morning from app store analytics firm App Annie, that gap is still widening – in a large part due to iOS’s growth in China. As of Q1 2015, iOS App Store worldwide revenue was about 70% higher than on Google Play, up from 60% in Q3 2014, the report notes.
China’s importance to the app industry cannot be understated. China has, for the first time since App Annie has been measuring iOS downloads by country (July 2010), surpassed the U.S. in quarterly iOS downloads in the first quarter of 2015.
This change should not be all that surprising, given that recent reports of record-breaking iPhone sales in China. In urban areas, Apple accounted for 25% of smartphone sales in Q1 2015, according to Kantar’s data. And Apple had previously said that China had accounted for $16 billion in sales in the market, while its mobile operating system grew year-over-year at the expense of Android. More importantly, perhaps, the number of first-time smartphone buyers in China who are selecting iPhone is still increasing.
The iOS surge in China is, in part, likely related to the increased sales of the bigger-screened iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices in the Chinese market, as demand for larger screens is particularly high in Asia, says App Annie. For comparison’s sake, in Q4 2104, those phones with screen sizes between 5 and 7 inches were roughly 60% of total smartphone shipments in China, versus 40% worldwide and in the U.S.
