App Sales

Apple’s App Store and Google Play on Android continue to set the pace for the overall performance and fortunes of mobile apps worldwide, while BlackBerry and Microsoft’s Windows Phone remain “distant challengers.” Figures out today from Canalys note that in Q1 2013, the four top app stores worldwide collectively accounted for 13.4 billion downloads, with $2.2 billion in paid app sales, in-app purchases and subscriptions. But while Google has long passed Apple as the biggest smartphone platform worldwide, Apple is still the undisputed leader when it comes to monetizing: Google Play accounted for 51% of all downloads (6.8 billion), but Apple’s App Store for 74% of all revenues ($1.6 billion).

In terms of downloads, Canalys says that Apple is not too far behind Google, with close to 40% of all downloads worldwide, while BlackBerry and Microsoft still hold single-digit percentage shares. Tim Shepherd, a senior analyst at Canalys, tells TechCrunch that he expects to see the gap between Google and Apple grow as Android retains its dominant position in the smart phone market globally.

In revenue numbers, however, Google has a lot of catching up to do. Compared to Apple’s 74%, Google is “close to 20%,” he says. The others are in single digits.

The figures represent 11% growth compared to Q4 in terms of download volumes, and about 9% growth in terms of sales. In terms of the biggest markets, app store revenues in North America were up by 8% and downloads 6%, and in Western Europe, revenues were up 8% and downloads 10%.

The concentration of activity on Apple and Google’s platforms show that while it continues to be a challenge for smaller players to break the hegemony that is Samsung/Android and Apple on handset sales, the same goes in content. “Upping their respective installed base of users is critical if BlackBerry or Microsoft are to close these gaps,” says Shepherd.