Apple’s App Store and Goole Play on Android continue to set
the pace for the overall performance and fortunes of mobile apps
worldwide, while BlackBerry and Microsoft’s Windows Phone remain
“distant challengers.” Figures out today from Canalys
note that in Q1 2013, the four top app stores worldwide collectively
accounted for 13.4 billion downloads, with $2.2 billion in paid app
sales, in-app purchases and subscriptions. But while Google has long
passed Apple as the biggest smartphone platform
worldwide, Apple is still killing it when it comes to monetizing:
Google Play accounted for 51% of all downloads (6.8 billion), but
Apple’s App Store for 74% of all revenues ($1.6 billion).
The figures represent 11% growth compared to Q4 in terms of download volumes, and about 9% growth in terms of sales. In terms of the biggest markets, app store revenues in North America were up by 8% and downloads 6%, and in Western Europe, revenues were up 8% and downloads 10%.
The concentration of activity on Apple and Google’s platforms show that while it continues to be a challenge for smaller players to break the hegemony that is Samsung/Android and Apple on handset sales, the same goes in content. This may not come as good news to challengers, who are putting a lot of effort into building up their app stores as a way of making their hardware more attractive. That has included, in some cases, help to developers to make sure that key apps get into the smaller markets, and campaigns to bring certain high profile apps to new platforms. (One of the most notable has been Nokia’s efforts to get Instagram to Windows Phone.) Still, the discrepancies of app numbers are one kind of indication about where developers are choosing to focus their energies. While Apple and Google are well over 500,000 apps each in their stores, BlackBerry currently has around 100,000.
The other important point of so many apps is that it continues to be a counterbalance to more general wider web use. Whether or not mobile web represents a more open and encompassing opportunity, the fact that apps continue to persist as a primary way of accessing things on mobile devices continues to have an impact on how all developers will have to position their work in the future. On touchscreens, it seems that icons as initial points of entry, and experiences that make full use of the hardware, will continue to persist as must-haves for consumers.
Despite the challenges, and the not very encouraging numbers, Canalys still sees an opportunity for BlackBerry and Microsoft to improve their respective positions.
“Apple’s App Store and Google Play remain the heavyweights in the app store world,” writes Tim Shepherd, Canalys senior analyst. “In comparison, BlackBerry World and the Windows Phone Store remain distant challengers today, though they still should not be ignored.”
In Canalys’ view, once chance lies in how these new app stores tackle less mature markets where there is still growth to be found in countries like South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia.
source : techcrunch.com
The figures represent 11% growth compared to Q4 in terms of download volumes, and about 9% growth in terms of sales. In terms of the biggest markets, app store revenues in North America were up by 8% and downloads 6%, and in Western Europe, revenues were up 8% and downloads 10%.
The concentration of activity on Apple and Google’s platforms show that while it continues to be a challenge for smaller players to break the hegemony that is Samsung/Android and Apple on handset sales, the same goes in content. This may not come as good news to challengers, who are putting a lot of effort into building up their app stores as a way of making their hardware more attractive. That has included, in some cases, help to developers to make sure that key apps get into the smaller markets, and campaigns to bring certain high profile apps to new platforms. (One of the most notable has been Nokia’s efforts to get Instagram to Windows Phone.) Still, the discrepancies of app numbers are one kind of indication about where developers are choosing to focus their energies. While Apple and Google are well over 500,000 apps each in their stores, BlackBerry currently has around 100,000.
The other important point of so many apps is that it continues to be a counterbalance to more general wider web use. Whether or not mobile web represents a more open and encompassing opportunity, the fact that apps continue to persist as a primary way of accessing things on mobile devices continues to have an impact on how all developers will have to position their work in the future. On touchscreens, it seems that icons as initial points of entry, and experiences that make full use of the hardware, will continue to persist as must-haves for consumers.
Despite the challenges, and the not very encouraging numbers, Canalys still sees an opportunity for BlackBerry and Microsoft to improve their respective positions.
“Apple’s App Store and Google Play remain the heavyweights in the app store world,” writes Tim Shepherd, Canalys senior analyst. “In comparison, BlackBerry World and the Windows Phone Store remain distant challengers today, though they still should not be ignored.”
In Canalys’ view, once chance lies in how these new app stores tackle less mature markets where there is still growth to be found in countries like South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia.
source : techcrunch.com
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