Mac App Store Dominated by Paid Apps, Top Apps' Revenue at 50% of Top iPad Apps'
App Store analytics firm
Distimo today issued a new report comparing the performance of Apple's two-month old Mac App Store to the more mature iPad and iPhone App Store segments, revealing that the Mac App Store is dominated by paid apps that also carry a higher average price than paid iPad apps.
Looking at the 300 most popular apps in each of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac App Stores, Distimo found a clear pattern of popularity, with iPhone and iPod touch apps being downloaded more than five times as often as iPad apps, which themselves are downloaded more than five times as often as Mac apps. But the large disparities in downloads are partially offset by differences in average pricing that see a similar pattern in reverse, although to a lesser degree. Consequently, the differences between each platform are reduced from 5x to 2x when revenue is considered instead of downloads.
The top applications on iPhone generate 2.1 times the revenue of top applications on the iPad. The top paid applications on the iPad in turn generate 2.0 times the revenue of top paid applications in the Mac App Store.
The differences in the ratio of downloads and the ratio of revenue is captured in the average selling price of top 300 applications in the different stores: $1.57 on iPhone, $4.19 on iPad and $11.21 in the Mac App Store.
The Mac App Store also skews more toward paid apps in general than iOS apps, with only 12% of Mac App Store applications currently available for free. That compares to 29% of iPad apps and 35% of iPhone/iPod touch apps.
Based on Distimo's numbers, Apple's Mac App Store had about 2,225 applications available in the United States at the end of February when the survey was conducted. Our own sister site AppShopper currently shows that number approaching 3,000.
Popular Stories
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model.
The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass.
In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory.
A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June.
The original AirTag was announced...
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr.
The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhon...
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon.
Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
Apple plans to release at least one new iPad Pro model this year, according to a supplier-focused report today from Korean website The Elec. It is likely that the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models would be updated simultaneously.
After receiving an OLED display last year, the report said the iPad Pro will receive only "minor" changes this year. Overall, the next iPad Pro is expected to...
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.
Notification Summary Changes
Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
For...
