It is a fact that downloads of apps and games are increasing, peoples are downloading and trying new apps and games every day, with almost everyone having a smartphone now. According to a detailed analysis conducted by App Annie, the Play Store saw over 19 billion downloads in Q4 2017 with year-over-year growth at 10%. That’s 145% more than Apple’s App Store which got only 7.7billion downloads.
The Play Store Hit 19 Billion Downloads in Q4 2017
That 19 billion figure is only made more impressive when you realize that it only includes new downloads. Newer and emerging markets such as India, Indonesia, and Brazil, made up a big portion of the 10% year-over-year growth. India surpassed the US for combined Play Store and App Store downloads in 2017. India’s record download figures in Q4 can be attributed primarily to the widespread wireless penetration across the nation and manufacturers aggressively pushing low-cost handsets to new consumers.
The three most popular categories on the Play Store for the year-over-year category were Games, Finance, and Personalization, and they all grew in Q4. Finance is expected to continue to grow in Q1 2018 due to the impending tax season and new smartphone owners discovering and experimenting with new finance-centric apps.
Both the Play Store and App Store saw 20% year-over-year growth worldwide for Q4 2017 regarding consumer spending. Given the much larger download count for the Play Store, one would expect it to generate more revenue. However, the App Store still saw 95% more in worldwide gross consumer spending in Q4. The App Store accounted for $11.5 billion, while the Play Store got around $5.9 billion.
The US had most robust year-over-year growth in an area, and Germany was the third country in both stores. South Korea took the second place for Play Store and Taiwan for App Store.
The worldwide consumer spends on Entertainment-category apps across the Play Store, and App Store alike grew more than four times from 2015 to 2017, mostly thanks to video streaming apps’ in-app subscriptions which enhance the viewing experience by removing ads, allowing playback of live TV or enabling offline viewing.
Another area that rakes in the moolah is mobile games. Gaming revenue generated in overseas markets by publishers headquartered in China (inclusive of subsidiaries located in China and foreign subsidiaries such as Tencent’s Supercell) grew over 100%, and we don’t see that figure coming down very soon.
You can read the complete report for a more in-depth understanding here.
The 19 billion download figure is made you more impressive when you realize that it only includes new downloads. A newer market such as India, Indonesia and Brazil are the big portion of the year to year growth.