Google Play may have more apps but iTunes is making way more money

A new report by AppAnnie — probably one of the most comprehensive application analytic firms out there — found that although Google Play apps are being downloaded more and more each day, iTunes is seeing more return in cash.

As you probably know, Android is the dominating mobile operating system in our world today. With just under 1.5 million apps at the end of last year, Google Play is home to about 300 000 more apps than its Apple counterpart.

This echoes a report we saw last week that boldly claimed Google’s Play store grew by more than 50- 60% last year. However true this may be, iTunes is said to have generated 70% more revenue during this time.

Read more: Google Play gained more new apps than Apple’s app store in 2014

As we can see in the graph below, AppAnnie found that the growth remained steady for both ecosystems, with Android leading the pack with 60% more worldwide app downloads than iOS in 2014:

Worldwide iOS vs Google Play DownloadsRegardless of its overarching popularity iTunes beat the Play Store by generating over 70% more yearly app revenue:

Worldwide iOS vs Google Play RevenueApple’s most recent earnings reflect this trend, with its iPhone and app store being the top performers and culminating in a massive quarterly revenue of US$74.6-billion — the biggest in its history. Moreover, during this quarter Apple shipped 74.5-million units of its flagship phones.

Read more: Apple’s latest quarter was the biggest in world history

Most of Apple’s phones were directed at “new” markets outside the US, accounting for 65% of the company’s revenue.

This is reflected in both Google Play and iTunes’ app download trends, with BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries having increased their revenue growth by over double the amount they saw the year before. The so-called superpowers — Japan, South Korea and the States — still eats the market share by a long run. See the graph below: