Google’s Play Store grew three times faster than Apple’s rival App Store globally in the first quarter of 2013, according to new research.
The study, from research firm App Annie attributed the growth largely to game-hungry smartphone fans in Japan and South Korea.
While Apple still attracts the most downloads overall, Google Play is catching fast, according to the data (see tables below).
Google Play’s income was up roughly 90% on the last quarter of 2012, while Apple’s App Store saw a rise of around a quarter.
However, Apple still enjoys the highest total revenue, with Google making just 38.5% of its competitor’s total. But Google’s revenue was just a tenth of Apple’s last year- showing nearly four-fold gains in under 12 months.
The rapid growth of devices using Google’s Android means the operating system now accounts for around 70% of the global smartphone market.
Some 80% of Google Play revenues come from downloads of popular titles such as Minecraft and Temple Run. For the App Store the figure is 70%.
The overall app market is estimated to have made more than $2bn (£1.3bn) in the first three months of this year.
Developers typically get 70% of the cost of an app, with the rest going to Apple or Google.
Top countries by app downloads
Top countries by revenue
Read the full report from App Annie here
