Google Play (NASDAQ: GOOG) store is growing stronger in its dominance over Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) App Store in terms of downloads, according to App Annie's new 2015 retrospective report. But, as VentureBeat pointed out, the App Store is taking in significantly more revenue than Google Play. In both cases, the leads widened in 2015.
- In 2014, Google Play recorded a 60% download lead over the App Store. In 2015, that lead grew to 100%.
- A large contributor to Google Play's year-over-year download growth was emerging markets, particularly Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Mexico, which accounted for nearly 50% of the store's annual download growth.
- In 2014, Apple's App Store made 70% more than Google Play. In 2015, that lead grew to 75%.
- The majority of the App Store's revenue growth came from China, the U.S. and Japan, which contributed almost 90% of the year-over-year revenue growth.
"In last year's Retrospective, we noted a 60% download lead of Google Play over iOS. This widened to nearly 100% in 2015. This massive disparity could mark the beginning of major changes in mobile marketing, including substantial increases of Android's share of mobile ad spend," App Annie said in its report.
That could end up being the case, but App Annie also predicts there's still lots of runway for the mobile app market. "There is still significant room for growth in the mobile app economy. Device penetration remains relatively low in a number of emerging markets, and future increases are likely to bolster download growth," the firm said. "Store revenue will continue to grow as audiences broaden and monetization options such as in-app subscriptions gain further traction in the coming year." With many miles to go before complete mobile device penetration in major international markets, it could be too soon to predict major shifts in mobile ad spending trends. With Apple recently shutting down its iAd platform, relinquishing all controls and revenues to publishers, iOS advertisers could have more to smile about and that could mean more ad revenue for developers.
For the complete report, click here.
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