app annie index: market q3 2015
TRANSCRIPT
App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015
India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
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App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015 - India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
Table of Contents
1. The Technology Behind the Index
2. This Quarter’s Macro Trends
● Asia Fuels the iOS-Google Play Dichotomy
● China’s iOS Growth Driven by Social Video Apps and Games
● India’s First-Time Smartphone Users Propel Google Play Downloads
3. Top Charts for Countries & Categories
● Top Categories by Usage
● Top Countries by Downloads and Revenue
● Top Categories by Downloads and Revenue
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App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015 - India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
1. The Technology Behind the Index
The information contained in this report was compiled from App Annie Intelligence , the
leading market data solution for the app store economy. To see how our app store
download, revenue, demographic and usage estimates can help guide your critical
business decisions, take a tour or request a demo today .
2. This Quarter’s Macro Trends
Asia Fuels the iOS-Google Play Dichotomy
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App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015 - India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
iOS and Google Play continued to show diverging growth patterns in Q3 2015. Google
Play expanded its download lead over iOS thanks to first-time smartphone users in
emerging markets like India and Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, iOS extended its revenue
lead over Google Play thanks to its continued strength in another Asian market: China.
In Q3 2015, worldwide downloads on Google Play were about 90% higher than on the
iOS App Store, up from an 85% lead in Q2 2015. Emerging markets like India, Indonesia
and fast-rising Vietnam were primary growth drivers as the population of first-time
smartphone owners continued to grow. As sub-$50 smartphones gain prominence in
these regions, they are likely to attract users with very different needs compared to
those buying devices priced $200 or above. Targeting new user segments at the lower
end of the market may give local app developers an opportunity to stand out from the
crowd.
On the other end of the spectrum, worldwide revenue on the iOS App Store was about
80% higher than on Google Play in Q3 2015, up from 70% in Q2 2015. iOS download
growth has been rising in China ever since the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus went on sale last
year. As we predicted in our report China Surpasses United States by iOS Downloads, this has also translated into strong revenue growth in the country over the past few
quarters. Going forward, we are curious to see the impact of the recently launched
iPhone 6S and 6S Plus on this trend.
China’s iOS Growth Driven by Social Video Apps and Games
The move to large-screen iPhones has led to China becoming Apple’s most important
market. This also had a massive impact on the iOS App Store, as China has essentially
become a barometer for its global performance. Q3 2015 was no different, as China led
all countries in absolute growth over Q2 2015 for both iOS downloads and revenue.
Social video apps had a major impact on iOS downloads in Q3 2015 as iCast Show and
MiaoPai zoomed up the charts. As we mentioned in the Worldwide Apps Index for
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App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015 - India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
August 2015 , iCast Show is a Dubsmash-style lip-syncing app that was published by
Sina Weibo-backed company Xuan Yixia. MiaoPai, also published by the same
company, is a service akin to Vine. It allows users to take short ten-second videos, make
edits, and share them with their followers.
The popularity of apps that add shareable bits of content on top of existing social
networks suggests that China’s app ecosystem is maturing. Now that the first layer of
social networks and services has been established, the focal point of innovation
appears to be shifting to another layer on top. In addition to video apps, taxi booking
app Didi Dache also saw strong growth which bodes well for its battle against Uber for
local dominance.
On the other hand, iOS revenue growth in China is mostly a function of Games. As we
highlighted in the Worldwide Games Index for August 2015 , Tencent saw spectacular
revenue growth thanks to two new IP-based releases: The Legend of Mir 2 and The
King of Fighters' 98 Ultimate Match . NetEase’s title, Fantasy Westward Journey , also
saw stellar growth on top of an immensely successful release in early Q2 2015 . Despite
all the questions surrounding the Chinese economy, the mobile gaming industry still
appears to be going strong.
India’s First-Time Smartphone Users Propel Google Play Downloads
While iOS appears to be thriving in China, Google Play received a shot in the arm from
its performance in another major Asian economy – India. Smartphone shipments in
India have been soaring this year as e-commerce has increasingly removed distribution
bottlenecks for Android OEMs, especially those with high-quality yet cost-effective
devices. This has translated into broad-based growth in Google Play downloads across
app types and categories. Google Play’s download performance in India was one of the
primary drivers of its stellar worldwide growth.
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App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015 - India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
Security apps like 360 Mobile Security (as featured in our Worldwide Apps Index for
July 2015 ) and a cross-platform file sharing utility, SHAREit, saw spectacular download
growth in India. Social and communication behemoths Facebook and WhatsApp
Messenger were also among the leading download gainers, which suggests that
Google Play’s growth in India was a function of first-time smartphone users.
India’s growing scale is becoming increasingly clear as it was one of the three largest
markets by downloads for both WhatsApp Messenger and Facebook in Q3 2015.
India is also currently Google Play’s third largest market by downloads, in addition to
being the world’s third largest smartphone market. However, it is equally important to
note that smartphone penetration in the country remains in the 10-15% range with
tremendous room for growth. This combination of scale and the potential for
exponential growth is rare and presents an incredible opportunity for app developers.
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App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015 - India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
3. Top Charts for Countries & Categories
Top Categories by Usage
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App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015 - India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
Top Categories by Downloads and Revenue
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App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015 - India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
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App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015 - India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
Top Countries by Downloads and Revenue
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App Annie Index: Market Q3 2015 - India’s Mobile Download Growth Surges
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