
Google saw more downloads than iOS App Store, but Apple generated more revenue - signor_bosco
http://venturebeat.com/2016/01/20/app-annie-2015-google-play-saw-100-more-downloads-than-the-ios-app-store-but-apple-generated-75-more-revenue/
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dingo_bat
Isn't this expected though? I think it is obvious that people who can afford a
more expensive class of phones also buy more apps. OTOH Android phones are
literally selling for < $30, no contract. A huge portion of Android phones
sold are these super-cheap phones. And the users will probably just be happy
with the 1000s of free apps in the Play store, quite a few of which are very
well-written too.

~~~
2muchcoffeeman
Flagship android phones are _not_ cheap.

Are we to conclude that if we took only the high end phones, iPhones would be
in the majority?

~~~
DominikR
iPhones are even more expensive than flagship Android phones. iPhone users
tend to use Macs which are even more expensive than their Windows
counterparts.

No matter how you slice it, if your business idea evolves around targeting
people willing to spend money on mobile apps you're gonna find a lot more of
those on the iOS ecosystem.

Also don't underestimate the fact that on Android you'll have to support more
users that cannot be converted to paying customers because they simply don't
care enough about apps to spend money on it.

~~~
herbst
> iPhones are even more expensive than flagship Android phones.

Even thought they are barely really worth it, thats simply wrong.

~~~
DominikR
The iPhone 6s costs here in the EU 739€ in its smallest config, the 6s Plus
849€. (and many will opt for the 64GB option as 16GB isn't sufficient for
most)

I don't know of any other Android phone that costs that much and has somewhat
comparable sales figures. The Samsung S6 Edge and Edge+ are the only ones
close, but how many do they actually sell of these?

Android flagship is mostly in the 500 to 650€ range, iOS is in the 750 to
1000€ range.

> Even thought they are barely really worth it

I did not make any statement about the cost/value relation of iPhones. But
apparently they are worth it for consumers.

~~~
herbst
My last statement was rather a opinion yes. Mostly based on the fact that i
barely notice a difference since my dual core nexus for me 3 generations ago.
My current phone has a 2k screen what barely makes sense on that size, a 14MP
camera which is grainy as fuck, 4 cores with about 2.something Ghz each, 2 of
which are off nearly all the time because who needs 4 cores?. I use it for
browsing and SMS ...

You are right that by price sign barely any phones are as expensive as the
iPhone (if any). But some Sony Xperia, Nokia Lumina and Samsung S6 play in the
same range.

What makes the price point invalid in my POV is that you buy it with a
contract usually. AFAIK the majority does. All the above mentioned phones will
be $100, all the others (including the 32GB versions of the iPhone 6) are $0.

Also clearly you cant compare the sale figures. Apple makes 1 phone every
other year. While the others mass produce models and usually create new ones
per series at least yearly. Fact is that the majority of the world population
is using Android again, also the Majority in most western countries has
changed back to Android (at least those i care about)

~~~
DominikR
The point that I'm trying to make is not which OS or company is better, the
thread is about Apple making more money with the app store and why that is so.

I argue that Apple customers are less price sensitive than Android users. (on
average) I know there are many Android users here that are less price
sensitive than the average Apple users, but not everyone is part of the tech
industry.

About the contracts: I don't know about the US, but in Austria/Germany the
iPhones are more expensive even on contracts. I wonder how that could be that
the price of a Galaxy S6 and iPhone 6S could be identical in the US on
contract.

------
bnastic
Anecdotal evidence and total sample of one person using actively both
platforms, but I don't find many (or any, so far) apps for Android that I
would consider buying. I have downloaded roughly the same number of apps on
both phones, but I only ever bought iPhone and iPad apps (mostly from iOS-only
developers, like OmniGroup). Is that just the part of platform identity, or
overall software quality? Discovery issue, or reliance on well known software
names before purchashing? I don't know, but I find I rely on Firefox on
Android for mostly everything I do on that platform (excluding free
communication apps), while iOS is far more varied.

~~~
DominikR
I made the switch to iPhones a year ago (although I'm still mainly an Android
developer) and can agree somewhat with your statement.

I rarely bought anything from the Google Play Store but I'm pretty sure this
is due to the fact that on Android there is almost ALWAYS a free alternative
for whatever you need.

On iOS not so much, even the crappiest app will cost you something.

But on the other hand I would do the same. iOS users are willing to spend more
money on mobile apps/services which is also the reason why they buy expensive
high end phones in the first place instead of buying a 50$ Android phone.

~~~
chii
> even the crappiest app will cost you something.

isn't that a sign that competition in a more open platform makes for a better
market for the consumer? And that paying for software is a thing of the past,
and that other revenue models needs to be thought up.

Games have already made the transition, mainly due to the way they raced to
the bottom and high cost of production, but i suspect utility apps will follow
suit very soon.

~~~
herbst
IMHO they did. They serve ads and make often more money than if they would
sell the app for a reasonable price. You even see this on Windows
applications, like qTorrent which imo really sucks, but thats exactly what you
get from expecting free software.

------
oceankid
This data is bland. Google's revenue from its ability to use the additional
data from this ecosystem surpasses Apple's 30% cut.

You know who looses? Developers.

~~~
simonh
According to some analysts (yes I know, but if a guessing game), Goggle makes
75% of its mobile ad revenue on iOS.

[http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/15/05/27/apples-
ios-...](http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/15/05/27/apples-ios-
drives-75-of-googles-mobile-advertising-revenue)

~~~
Oletros
I would like to look at that "Goldman Sachs report" because everyone is
quoting it but nobody has put a link to it. Now it seems like a fact but there
is no single proof of it.

And not taking into account that Appleinsider is not the best and unbiased
source of information.

~~~
simonh
The story was broke the New York Times, but Business Insider seems to have the
best reference for it as they quote directly from the note and mention the
lead author. Presumably the note isn't available online (for free anyway, such
notes are often part of paid subscriptions but are occasionally provided to
journalists). But bear in mind this entire thread is predicated on analysis,
not canonical data.

[http://www.businessinsider.co.id/apple-walked-away-from-
iad-...](http://www.businessinsider.co.id/apple-walked-away-from-iad-to-
starve-googles-core-business-into-irrelevance-2016-1/)

~~~
Oletros
So, there is no single proof of the assertion.

Is like God, you have to believe

~~~
simonh
The level of evidence I need for god is a bit higher than the standard I need
for the mobile ad market. I suppose it depends on which religion we're talking
about. I've often heard it said that the whole ad business is Voodoo.

------
Arnt
I wonder what the number of downloads represents, user-initiated acts or files
transmitted?

Google lets developers publish updates easily and Apple does not, so the
number of updates might be larger on android than on ios. Might be, I don't
know.

~~~
NewTabThu
I worked on a top 10 grossing (at one time) freemium ios/android game. Our iOS
and android DAU were basically equivalent. However iOS generally made about
double what android made daily.

------
pjmlp
I would like to know from which countries the iOS revenue comes from, given
that in many countries very few people can afford one device off contract.

------
amelius
Basic economics. You increase the price, sales go down. You lower the price,
sales go up. Somewhere, there is an optimum in the profit you make.

~~~
scarface74
Look up Veblum goods.

~~~
shrikant
You mean Veblen goods :)

------
cookiemonsta
I mostly use iOS (my phone) but i have an android tablet. From the few apps on
my android tablet it seems they are lower quality, have more ads, and i have
much much fewer apps on my android than ios mostly because of these reasons.
It isn't a surprise that there are more Google downloads than app store
downloads.

~~~
herbst
You choosed to use a free App which usually finances itself via ads. If you
choose a paid app this usually is not the case. Apple is rather like paid apps
only, and those which are free are usually really crappy (or earn with you
otherwise)

------
joeblau
In late 2010, I did a survey in my office with my co-workers. 9 of them had
Android devices and only 2 of us had iPhones. I went door to door and asked
everyone if they had ever purchased an app for money. Only Android user said
yes, but it took him a while to remember what he had even purchased since he
didn't use the app anymore. Both of us who had iPhones purchased multiple
products including on Cydia (The jailbroken app store). We both also made
purchases early on when the App Store prices were still in the $5 - $10 range
for apps which are today mostly free. This seems to be a continuation of that
trend; More total Android devices with less total revenue.

------
xbmcuser

      Apple is getting ahead mostly because of China app store revenue. China Android app stores revenue alone is more than half Apple Worldwide store revenue.
       Google entering into China market will improve its revenue but China Android App store are extremely competitive market and they will have a hard time entering and taking away market share from current app stores.

------
NietTim
It's always been like this, no?

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mintplant
"Revenue" meaning total money moving through the store, or revenue to
Google/Apple only? If the latter then the numbers will depend on the cuts each
company takes.

~~~
eknkc
Isn't that the same for both stores though? (30% of price)

~~~
Oletros
No, Google doesn't take a cut from Netflix, Amazon, etc

And not taking into account that that revenue is only from direct payment, ad
revenue is not included.

~~~
scarface74
Apple doesn't take a cut either for selling non digital goods and Amazon
doesn't let you buy digital goods via the app.

------
jheriko
apple customers spend more money. android customers are cheapskates... this is
old news, but the scale of it and having some measurements from others to back
it up is nice.

------
joelrunyon
This is why we develop for iOS first => [https://impossible.ventures/ios-
first/](https://impossible.ventures/ios-first/)

~~~
izacus
Yep, if you release for iOS first and then bring halfassed obsolete version on
Android (as most people do) one year later, you're of course going to see less
revenue there.

~~~
mrweasel
There are also developers, like ustwo who releases the same game (Monument
Valley) on both platforms within a short period of time. In this case iOS in
April and Android in May. Still the numbers for Android are nowhere near those
of iOS, despite there being more Android phone.

If the development cost for both platforms are roughly equal, it might not
make sense to develop an Android version in the future. Instead the money
could be put to better use making a new iOS title.

The reason why Android apps are selling so poorly could of cause as you say be
due to lack of quality on the apps in general. If you buy two, three or four
apps when you get your new Android phone and their all terrible, then you
might decide not to waste money on any app in the future. If that's the case
Google should start curating their app store. Otherwise it will be a
continuing vicious circle where users aren't buying and developers push out
increasingly lower quality, because the revenue can cover the cost of
development.

~~~
joelrunyon
> If the development cost for both platforms are roughly equal, it might not
> make sense to develop an Android version in the future. Instead the money
> could be put to better use making a new iOS title.

Yup - this is our reasoning too.

~~~
izacus
> Yup - this is our reasoning too.

And that's understandable, but acting lously towards your customers will make
you fail on the market. On iOS and Android. It's shockingly common that Apple
user CEOs suddenly throw all attention to design, marketing and customers out
the window on their Android wonder and then whine how noone likes to buy their
applications.

~~~
joelrunyon
Why do you assume that we do this? You're pretty accusatory about this whole
thing.

