Google Play Downloads Surpass App Store Downloads in Q2

According to App Annie, Google Play surpassed Apple’s App Store in total downloads for the first time ever during the second quarter. However, the App Store still generates significantly more revenue than its chief competitor. Android is also beating iOS in tablet sales.

Juli Clover with MacRumors reported, “In a new report, App Annie today revealed that downloads from Google Play finally surpassed iOS App Store downloads by 10% during the second quarter of 2013. The uptick in Google Play downloads can be attributed to higher activity in emerging markets, such as Russia, India, and Brazil.”

Tero Kuittinen with Forbes added, “On app revenue front, iOS still leads Google Play by 130%. Yet even this lead has been shrinking rapidly – just two years ago, the iOS lead was more than 400%. It now seems that it will be only a matter of time before Google will overtake iOS in revenue generation.”

TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez noted, “Games, of course, still account for the majority share of the revenue for both stores – accounting for 80 percent of revenue on Google Play vs around 75 percent on the iOS App Store. But a non-game app, Japan’s LINE, also made a strong showing, with two other LINE apps (a comic book app and a fortune-telling app) reaching the top ten in June.”

In a related story, Computerworld’s Greg Keizer reported, “Both Apple- and Windows-branded tablets lost market share in the second quarter, each retreating in the face of increased pressure from Android, a market research analyst said today. In preliminary estimates for the quarter ending June 30, U.K.-based Strategy Analytics pegged Apple’s share of the global tablet market at 28.3%, a dramatic decline from 47.2% the year before.”