A recent study conducted by analytics firm Sensor Tower confirms that iPhone users tend to spend more money in the iOS App Store than Android users do in the Google Play Store.
According to the study, over $32.8 billion USD ($44 billion CAD) was spent in Apple’s App Store during the first half of 2020, including in-app purchases, premium downloads and subscriptions.
However, Apple doesn’t take home all this money, given that earnings are also shared with developers. For context, both Apple and Google typically take a 30 percent cut from all transactions in the App Store.
This number is double the estimated revenue earned by Android’s Google Play Store despite the platform holding a more extensive worldwide market share. In total, the Play Store earned $17.3 billion USD (about $23 billion CAD) during the first half of the year.
iOS App Store spending is also 24.7 percent higher compared to last year’s $26.3 billion USD (approximately $35.6 billion CAD) for the same six months in 2019. On the other hand, Play Store spending increased 21 percent compared to 2019 spending during the same time period.
It seems that despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, being stuck at home didn’t stop smartphone users from making in-app purchases, buying premium apps and paying for subscriptions.
Across iOS and Android, the highest-earning app is Tinder with $433 million (about $587 million CAD) across the App Store and Play Store. This is a 19 percent decrease in spending in the app compared to last year, likely due to the pandemic and Tinder’s focus on in-person meetings.
In terms of gaming, the top-grossing title was PUBG Mobile with $1.3 billion (roughly $1.7 billion CAD) across the App Store and Google Play Store.
According to a study commissioned by Apple last month, the tech giant claims its entire App Store ecosystem facilitated $519 billion (about $704 billion CAD) in sales over the course of 2019. This number also takes into account physical goods and services purchase through apps.
Back in 2019, Spotify made an antitrust complaint with the European Union related to Apple taking a 30 percent cut of its subscription revenue through the music streaming service’s iOS app. Spotify also made claims related to Apple’s alleged monopoly over the App Store in the same complaint.
Image credit: Sensor Tower
Source: Sensor Tower
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