China Pushes iOS App Store Revenue 80 Percent Above Google Play

Apple CEO Tim Cook has mentioned many times in the past few quarters how important China has been for its earnings.

Now, with the figures about its iOS App Store available for third quarter, it’s apparent why China is such a major market for Apple. A new report from App Annie that analyzed apps’ impacts on the app store’s revenue shows that China has helped give its app downloads — and revenue — a major boost.

In terms of downloads by store, Google Play still leads Apple’s iOS App Store by 90 percent, but when breaking down by revenue, Apple is 80 percent above Google Play. The download growth was attributed to popularity in India and Southwest Asia. Interestingly enough, the Asian app popularity is helping Apple grow its revenue on the iOS App side.

In Apple’s Q3 earnings, Cook cited China and India as two top emerging markets for Apple, saying that the iPhone in China saw an 87-percent growth, year over year, in the smartphone market share, and India saw a 90-percent growth. He called the numbers “unbelievable” in China and said that Apple remains “extremely bullish on China,” noting that Apple believes it will eventually be the company’s largest market.

What has helped Apple gain more market share in China, according to App Annie’s data is Apple’s draw toward larger screens with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The growth of iOS in China has also been attributed to an increase in social video apps and games, which would be where the larger screen popularity comes into play.

For Google, the largest amount of downloads in one of its largest markets in India was driven by downloads for Facebook and WhatsApp, which has been growing in popularity in the region. India is Google Play’s third largest market for downloads and is gaining an increasing share in the smartphone market.