App Store Increases Revenue Lead Over Google Play in Q1 2015
Apple's App Store increased its revenue lead by 10 percentage points over Google's Play Store in the first quarter of 2015, according to the latest numbers from App Annie obtained by The Wall Street Journal. The App Store's revenue was also almost 70% higher than the Play Store, despite Google Play receiving 70% more app downloads during the three-month period ending March.
Apple's increased App Store revenue helped it reverse a trend that saw Google Play slowly catch up in revenue over recent quarters, although the Play Store continued to widen its lead in overall downloads. Apple previously held about a 60% advantage in App Store revenues over Google Play during the third quarter of 2014, but that figure rose to about 70% in Q1 2015 on the strength of the United States and China.
"China was a bright spot for Apple – mirroring the strong market share gains that the iPhone made in the country. Apple’s larger-screen iPhone 6 and 6 Plus proved immensely popular in the Chinese market where consumers prefer bigger display smartphones.
In the first quarter of 2015, China passed the U.S. as the top country for iOS app downloads, App Annie said. China still trails the U.S. and Japan for App Store revenue. The Google Play store does not operate officially in mainland China."
The disparity between the App Store and Google Play in terms of overall revenue and downloads is a longstanding trend between the iOS and Android storefronts. A number of popular developers turn to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch because Apple's ecosystem provides a more lucrative opportunity for earnings, while Google Play receives more downloads because there are significantly more Android users worldwide.
Popular Stories
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
A week after Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to permit retro game console emulators, a Game Boy emulator for the iPhone called iGBA has appeared in the App Store worldwide. The emulator is already one of the top free apps on the App Store charts. It was not entirely clear if Apple would allow emulators to work with all and any games, but iGBA is able to load any Game Boy ROMs that...
Apple's hardware roadmap was in the news this week, with things hopefully firming up for a launch of updated iPad Pro and iPad Air models next month while we look ahead to the other iPad models and a full lineup of M4-based Macs arriving starting later this year. We also heard some fresh rumors about iOS 18, due to be unveiled at WWDC in a couple of months, while we took a look at how things ...
Best Buy this weekend has a big sale on Apple MacBooks and iPads, including new all-time low prices on the M3 MacBook Air, alongside the best prices we've ever seen on MacBook Pro, iPad, and more. Some of these deals require a My Best Buy Plus or My Best Buy Total membership, which start at $49.99/year. In addition to exclusive access to select discounts, you'll get free 2-day shipping, an...
Apple today said it removed Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store for violating the company's App Review Guidelines related to spam (section 4.3) and copyright (section 5.2), but it did not provide any specific details. iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut's open-source GBA4iOS app. The emulator rose to the top of the App Store charts following its release this weekend,...
Apple's first set of new AI features planned for iOS 18 will not rely on cloud servers at all, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "As the world awaits Apple's big AI unveiling on June 10, it looks like the initial wave of features will work entirely on device," said Gurman, in the Q&A section of his Power On newsletter today. "That means there's no cloud processing component to the...
Top Rated Comments
Yeah google has a what? 7 billion $ market? "If it aint got double digit in billions it aint worth it" , am I right or what?
Wait a second I don't have any friends.. Well I did, but then I started talking about marketshare, profit margins and taptic feedback and then they all just stopped calling.. Strange.. Where are they..?
Anyway, one of them had a really cute nickname. We called him Applescruff because when he ate fruit he'd get it all over his facHEY WAIT A MINUTE IS THAT YOU??! YOU BETRAYED ME! YOU BETRAYED MMMEEEHHHHHHH!!!!!!
;)
Not when it come to maintaining updates and keep everything working smoothly on all the different flavors for android. Its not like you just convert and release on Google play and your done.
Plain and simple there is just a better ROI with the Apple Store.
Let's stop pretending that every Andriod user is using a Galaxy S6, Galaxy Note 4, HTC One, LG G3, or a Moto X.
Apple has done a great job creating a viable marketplace for developers!
We're all very grateful!!!
In my opinion, a lot mobile apps are actually under priced.
Does anybody remember how much software used to cost back when
Windows ruled the world? I don't get people that complain about app prices. Developers work very hard and deserve to be compensated.