Games dominate mobile app revenue as emerging ‘growth markets’ catch up

MEF together with app analytics group Distimo today released a mobile analytics report focusing on the global trends across the Apple App Store and Google Play in 16 different countries. Although it touches on various subjects, one of the report’s most intersting findings is that the so-called growth markets are catching up considerably with the top Western markets slowing down.

The report notes that while Google Play is gaining ground rapidly with currently 35% market share, Apple’s App Store accounts for 65% of total revenues globally. Much of this revenue development is due to the success of games monetization across all countries, accounting for 71% of total revenues.

Games are by far the most popular app with South Korea’s market revenue growing the fastest year-on-year by a factor of ten. The report also found the dreaded freemium or in-game purchases to be the best method used for business monetization.

A massive 86% of the revenue from the Apple App Store and 94% in Google Play is generated by following this model. Gaming is the most popular category with 36% of all downloads generating over 71% of all revenue across the Apple App Store globally.

Interestingly, growth has slowed down considerably in the US and the UK while having picked up considerably in other markets. The report shows that games are most popular in China with 92% of all downloads and least popular in India.

The report not only focuses on markets such as the US and a handful of European countries but also growth markets such as South Korea, Brazil and South Africa. Both app revenues and downloads are put under the spotlight to give greater insight into consumer preferences and behaviour.

The report also notes that there is limited impact in emerging markets. Brazil, which is considered the largest market analysed, is still below the top ten countries with 1.18% of total revenue generated by both app stores. Brazil is followed by Mexico (0.73%), UAE (0.26%), India (0.22%), Philippines (0.193%) and South Africa with merely 0.192%.

MEF notes that because of low smartphone penetration, growth markets make up a small percentage of the total value of all of the revenue generated by Google Play and the Apple App Store in the top 40 countries listed in the report. However, these markets as well as smartphone usage are growing and represent a major opportunity for the app economy.

As Rimma Perelmuter, CEO at MEF, puts it, “understanding the prevailing business models and regional variances that underpin this growth is essential to helping mobile businesses identify new opportunities across growth markets.”