According to new information released this morning by App Annie, an app store analytics company, the gap between iOS and Android is widening, largely due to the rise of iOS in China. Since the first quarter of 2015, iOS App Store revenue has grown 70% globally compared to Google Play, up from 60% in the third quarter of 2015, according to the report.
The importance of the Chinese market to the app industry cannot go unnoticed. Since App Annie began tracking iOS app downloads by country, China surpassed the US in iOS downloads for the first time in the first quarter of 2015.
This shift shouldn't come as a surprise, given recent reports of iPhone sales soaring in China. In urban areas, Apple accounted for 25% of smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2015. Apple itself has said that China accounted for $16 billion of sales in that market, and the mobile operating system has been growing year after year at the expense of Android. Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that the number of first-time smartphone buyers choosing an iPhone is constantly increasing.
The iOS epidemic in China is partly due to increased sales of the larger-screened iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the Chinese market, as demand for large screens is extremely high in Asia, according to App Annie. By comparison, in the fourth quarter of 2014, phones with screens between 5 and 7 inches accounted for roughly 60% of total shipments in China, compared with 40% in the U.S. and internationally.
In terms of downloads by category, Chinese iOS users preferred Games and Photo-Video apps, including some like Tencent's Pitu, which became one of the most popular apps of the quarter mainly due to its special features that interest the majority of local users - such as beauty themes, makeup and cosplay filters. Other apps like IN and Fotoplace did equally well during the same period.
However, while downloads in China are booming, the US still comes out on top in terms of revenue, according to App Annie.
Source: planet-greece.blogspot.com/
