Google Play performance Q2 2015 - Google and Apple gain big from new, emerging markets

It’s about that time of year for the quarterly report by App Annie that tell us how Google Play and the Apple App Store did over the last few months. 2015 was projected to be a big year for both iOS and Android as Android moves into emerging markets and iOS continues to dominate in China. If you want to see some prior stats, you can find those here.

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1. Google still leads in downloads, but iOS still leads in revenue

The stats: According to App Annie, Google Play continues to outpace the App Store in app downloads. In fact, they’re doing it so well that they’ve actually increased that gap. Google Play had about 85% more downloads than the App Store. On the other hand, the App Store continues to outpace Google Play in revenue by about 70% and this is about what it was back in Q1.
The takeaway: Both companies have been making some big moves this year. With Android One and cheaper Android smartphones, Google has owned the emerging markets and this has led to far more app downloads. However, any impact this (and growth in general) has made on revenue was totally cancelled out by Apple’s continued growth in China.

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2. Taiwan finds out Google Play has games and leaves Germany in the dust

The stats: Google Play’s strength in Germany has been stellar and it’s one of the few places where Google Play outpaces the App Store in revenue. However, over the last quarter, Taiwan apparently figured out that Google Play had games and they have flown passed Germany in revenue generated.
The takeaway: This is a very strong example of what can happen when an emerging market starts taking care of business. It wasn’t long ago we were talking about Taiwan from the perspective that they were new in the Google Play stats world. Now, thanks to some core games such as Fun Plus Game and Shoryuken, the country is now among those that generate the most revenue. It’s also worth mentioning (based on the graphic above), that this growth happened within the last four months which is extremely fast.

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3. Cord cutting is making a serious impact in the US and China

The stats: Video streaming apps have made a large impact on revenue in the mobile space, but predominately on iOS thanks again to China. The Entertainment category is also in the top five categories for revenue for the first time on Google Play.
The takeaway: It’s been the long time assumption that when cord cutting became a big thing that we’d see it on mobile. Thanks to its ever present nature, mobile devices and tablets seem like the natural fit for things like Netflix, Hulu, and the Chinese streaming services. Expect this to continue to trend upward as services like HBO NOW, Sling TV, Showtime, CBS All Access, and major sports streaming services (NHL Gamecenter, etc) become more popular.

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4. The top categories by total time usage and by session duration

The stats: These are graphs that show two things. The first is “total time used” which shows what categories people spend the overall most time on. The other chart is by session which shows what categories people spend the most time doing at once. Here’s the difference. You may check Facebook 15 times a day for five minutes each totally 45 minutes (total time spent). However, you might watch an episode of a TV show on Netflix which is 30 minutes in a single session.

The takeaway: Once you take a good, hard look at the data, nothing here should surprise anyone. Entertainment includes things like Netflix which people will sit and watch for hours at a time so it makes sense that it tops the charts with the longest sessions. Similarly, Social and Communication make sense because people send texts and check their social media profiles copiously. The interesting part is that Books & Reference make an appearance on Google Play session duration which means people read for longer on Android than iOS. The iOS folks seem to be sticking to Music and Entertainment as per the norm.

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5. Top countries for revenue and downloads barely change at all

The stats: Part of these stats show which countries were responsible for the most downloads and the most revenue. For the App Store, it’s been China, the United States, and Japan while on Google, it’s been Japan, the United States, and South Korea. The only notable change was that Taiwan surpassed Germany for Google Play revenue to be fourth overall.
The takeaway: There really isn’t any takeaway here. Steady as she goes because the same names that made a splash in Q1 of 2015 were the ones who continue to dominate Q2 of 2015.

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6. …and the same goes for app categories

The stats: These stats show which categories saw the most downloads and obtained the most revenue in Q2 of 2015. There haven’t been many changes with the only notable change being that Entertainment is on the rise in revenue for both iOS and Android.
The takeaway: We discussed the rise of Entertainment earlier as cord cutters become more common and services like Sling TV making the idea more appealing. Other than that, much like the revenue and downloads by country, everything here is pretty much the same as it was in Q1 of 2015. Steady as she goes.

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Wrap up

Overall, there weren’t a lot of big changes for the App Store and Google Play in Q2 of 2015. Google got some extra downloads while iOS got a little extra revenue. The Entertainment category saw some excitement as did Taiwan. Really, though, everything is pretty much the same and we expect it to remain that way for a while. Change is in the air but it’s slow getting here. If you have any thoughts, let us know in the comments!