The record breaking quarter for the Cupertino based company also saw rise in the revenue of its app store. The recent report by mobile analytics firm App Annie that looks back at the year 2014 and how Apple’s iOS App Store and Google Play Store have fared, brings forth these facts.
Google Play Store despite seeing 60 per cent in downloads was outshone by iOS – hinting at vastly superior monetisation of its service.
In App Annie’s 2014 Retrospective, it reports that despite Google Play Store amassing 60 per cent more downloads during 2014 than iOS, the App Store reflected 70 per cent higher revenues for the year.
The study also found that Japan, South Korea and the US, collectively generated more app revenue than the rest of the world combined.
In 2015, App Annie foresees strong app growth in markets like India, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, Russia and Vietnam.
The report concludes by highlighting several interesting trends in apps across geographic locations. ‘Super casual’ games like the infamous Flappy Bird gained in popularity in 2014 with messaging apps like WhatsApp, LINE and WeChat seeing huge growth and diversifying their offerings in many cases. Travel and transportation apps also grew 30 per cent in 2014.