App Annie’s CEO Betrand Schmitt took the stage this week at TechCrunch Beijing 2014 to share the latest analytics report with the audience. App Annie is an app analytics and market data company that has seen rapid growth since its launch in 2010, with over 90% of the top 100 app publishers using its products.
Schmitt revealed that China comes in second after the US in iOS downloads by country, and beat out the UK to rank third in iOS revenue in June 2014. The report’s recommended country launch for China is to utilize local distribution and monetization channels for Android apps, and to launch on iOS.
In most countries, the iOS App Store generally monetizes better than Google Play, although there are a few countries such as South Korea and Japan which see more revenue in Google Play and thus are recommended to do a Google Play launch.
Video streaming apps such as iQIYI, Youku and LeTV rose in revenue month-over-month in the iOS store, ranking third, fifth and sixth respectively, revealing the increase in demand for mobile video streaming. Dating apps such as Zhenai, Jiayuan and Momo also finished in the top 10.
Games have remained number one in terms of downloads and revenues by category in both iOS and Google Play, and social networking and entertainment apps remain some of the most popular app categories in both stores.
The 2014 FIFA World Cup also caused a spike in Sports downloads in iOS, and navigation apps jumped four spots, purportedly due to a strong showing from European countries. Education app revenues also rose in both Google Play and iOS.
Thanks to its performance boosting apps, DU Speed Booster and DU Battery Saver & Widgets, Baidu climbed seven spots in June to finish in the top 10 Google Play publishers by downloads. E-retailer apps Taobao and Jingdong also placed in the top 10 for iOS downloads. Interestingly, no other countries had e-retailer apps finishing in the top 10, which no doubt showcases the large popularity of e-commerce in China.
More app store analytics and market data can be found on App Annie.