Google App Revenue Higher Than Hand-Held Sales

Android smartphones are still favored by users worldwide. According to App Annie, gaming devices such as PlayStation Vita are among most popular. Google Play had one of its best years in 2013. Google Play App revenue surged higher than hand-held consoles for its first time. The company reports that both iOS and Google Play consumer spend was three times higher than the hand-held market in the third quarter of last year.

App Annie reports the latest following trends and much more:

1. The Only Major Country Where Google Play Vies With iOS on Equal Revenue Terms Japan bucks the platform revenue trend seen in most countries as far as platform revenue is concerned. In the last year, Google Play app revenue has caught up with iOS in Japan, compared to the rest of the world where iOS app revenue is well over double that of Google Play on an aggregate basis).

2. Sheer Majority of Game Revenue Growth Driven by Just Five Publishers It’s an astounding fact, but the game revenue growth that has catapulted Japan to the number one spot has been mostly driven by just five publishers. One of them is the messaging powerhouse LINE, one of them is Puzzle & Dragons maker GungHo Online.

3. The Growth Isn’t Over If 2013 was the year where Japan’s smartphone penetration caught up with the US, 2014 will be the year where it completely obliterates things. By next year, 62% of mobile phones in Japan will be smartphones (compared to 50% in the US) according to eMarketer. The impact this will have on app downloads and revenue is a mouth-watering prospect for businesses invested in that region of the world.

*App Annie

The report also states that 15% more yearly app downloads were from Google Play versus the App Store last year however iOS generated double app revenues compared to Google Play. App Annie states that there has been a “dramatic shift in game spending on mobile.”

Candy Crush Saga is a match-three puzzle video game released by the developer King on April 12, 2012 for Facebook, and on November 14, 2012 for smartphones. As of March 2013, Candy Crush Saga surpassed FarmVille 2 as the most popular game on Facebook, with 46 million average monthly users. It is a variation on their browser game Candy Crush. The Daily Mail claims that the high profitability of the game has prompted the UK Office of Fair Trading to push for guidelines on games with exploitative game mechanics. A major expansion to the game was launched in December 2013.

IDC reports, “The number of paying smartphone and tablet gamers will surpass the number of paying GOH gamers worldwide in 2013 and rise at a rapid rate through 2017. The number of GOH bundles shipped, meanwhile, should fall at an average of nearly 7% per year over the next five years. “ According to IDC, “Total mobile/portable gaming revenue, including digital and packaged game software, GOH hardware bundles, and direct advertising revenue going to platform suppliers and game developers/publishers, is forecast to approach $23 billion in 2017.”