Clash of Clans is 2013's most lucrative gaming app, data shows
The rise of Bitstrips is one of the app trends spotlighted by new research.
The latest analysis of apps usage chart the growth of games, Android, Asian users - and Bitstrips.
Apple and Google tend to announce a smattering of stats to show their respective app stores' growth whenever they have a big press launch for iOS or Android.
How to fill the gap between those events? Mobile analytics companies like Flurry, Distimo and App Annie have become key sources for app developers and journalists alike, crunching big apps data and regularly publishing the results.
Both Distimo and App Annie have released their latest research this week, here's Distimo's report and here's App Annie's. Read on for some of the findings that stood out:
1. Google Play narrowing revenues gap to App Store
Apple still has the most lucrative app store, with Distimo estimating that on a typical day in November 2013, global revenues for the 200 top grossing iOS apps were more than $18m. That compares to $12m for Android's Google Play store, although the report notes that a year ago, the respective figures were $15m and $3.5m. The gap is narrowing.
Distimo's chart comparing revenues on Apple's App Store and Google Play.
2. It's a freemium world out there
At the start of this year, the percentage of app store revenues from "freemium" apps – downloaded for free but using in-app purchases – was 77% on iOS' App Store and 89% on Google Play, according to Distimo. By November, that had increased to 92% and 98% respectively.
This varies by app category though: for the App Store specifically, 90% of games revenues come from freemium apps, but that falls to 88% for social networking, 68% for entertainment, 65% for music and 77% for books. Other categories are still mainly about paid apps: 70% of productivity iOS app revenues and 55% of navigation iOS app revenues came from paid apps in November according to the report.
Distimo's chart of app categories' revenue breakdown on iOS.
3. Asia rising fast for app revenues
If you just focus on the App Store and Google Play, the US remains the most lucrative apps market in the world, ahead of Japan, then a big drop to South Korea, the UK and China, as well as other Western countries. If you look at growth over this year, though, the chart is topped by the Asian markets: 759% growth in South Korea, 280% in China and 245% in Japan.
Apps market growth over the course of 2013, according to Distimo.
4. Games still the most popular app category
According to Distimo, 63% of iOS app revenues come from games – which if 90% of those are from freemium titles, suggests that 56.7% of all money being spent in Apple's App Store is going on virtual items and currency for games.
Apple's own announcements indicate that it paid out $3bn to iOS developers between June and October this year, which when you add the company's 30% cut back in, indicates just under $1.1bn of monthly spending on iOS apps – and thus around $608m a month within freemium games alone if Distimo's estimates are correct.
That's reflected in the charts: the entire top 10 grossing iOS apps globally in 2013 were games, and nine of the top 10 grossing Google Play games, according to the report. It claims Clash of Clans edged out Candy Crush Saga as the most lucrative iOS game globally this year, but that King's sweet-swapping phenomenon beat Japanese game Puzzle & Dragons to top the Google Play chart.
Clash of Clans made the most money on iOS this year.
5. Dating and cartoon-creation apps riding high on iOS
App Annie's latest report focuses on November specifically, rather than 2013 as a whole, so it's a good snapshot of current trends. It's also useful because it separates out games and non-game apps, making it possible to pinpoint some trends in the latter.
For example? Dating apps are doing well: four of the top 10 grossing iOS non-game apps in November were dating apps: Zoosk, Badoo, Grindr and AdoptAGuy. Also cartoon-creation apps: App Annie reckons that MomentCam and Bitstrips were the first and second most-downloaded non-game apps on iOS in November, ahead of YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp and other big names.
Bitstrips has shot to fame on the back of Facebook-sharing.
6. Children's apps: more popular than you think
App Annie's games report has a few surprises on the children's apps front. It claims the top publisher for global Google Play games downloads in November was Chinese firm Tiny Piece – maker of kid-apps like Baby Pet Vet Doctor, Pets Nail Salon and Halloween Spa – ahead of Gameloft, EA, King, Rovio, Disney and others.
App Annie ranks Tiny Piece fifth in the comparable chart (global games downloads in November) for iOS, and Irish children's apps publisher Bluebear sixth thanks to apps like Crazy Shave, Nose Doctor and Shave Santa. These aren't the kind of apps that Apple shows off in keynotes or TV ads – those are more likely to be made by companies like Toca Boca – but it may be Tiny Piece and Bluebear's apps that are played by most children this Christmas.
Also note App Annie's claim that talking-pet app My Talking Tom was the second most-downloaded iOS game in the world in November, behind only Candy Crush Saga. Despicable Me: Minion Rush was fifth in that chart too, having just passed 150m total downloads in the year.
Nose Doctor: who knew kids would be attracted by bogey-related apps?
7. Pandora is profiting from mobile music
In the UK, we don't think much about personal radio service Pandora, as it's not been available here since 2007 due to a lack of licensing deals. But it's really interesting to note how well it's doing in App Annie's revenue charts. They claim that Pandora Radio was the top non-game iOS app in the world for revenues in November, and fifth in the corresponding Google Play chart.
There are some official figures for this, as Pandora is a public company. In the third quarter of this year, it made $37.2m in subscription revenues from 3.18m people paying for its Pandora One service, which removes ads. The option to pay for this via in-app purchases is what's helping it chart so highly in the top-grossing lists – despite only being available in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
The implications of this may be felt more in 2014, when Pandora will face global competition from rivals like Apple's iTunes Radio, as well as free personal-radio features in apps like Spotify and Deezer. Games may be the big story in freemium apps, but it seems music can benefit from the in-app purchases model too.
Pandora Radio is making money from subscriptions as well as ads.
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