About Face? Android Apps More Profitable Than iOS

Long lines outside Apple Stores in China might paint a rosy picture, but numbers comparing the iOS business to Android say otherwise.

The revenue from the Chinese market has tipped the scale in favor of global Android app stores, despite Google’s lack of consumer-level presence in China, according to a report published by Digi-Capital.

“Accepted wisdom and research tells us that iOS makes more money than Google Play, despite Google Play having more downloads. Nobody would argue with that,” said the company’s blog post. “But what about iOS versus Android at a global level? Include the massive Chinese Android app stores, and Android didn’t just dominate download volumes, it made more money than iOS last year.”

While Chinese Android app stores like Wandoujia and those powered by tech companies like Baidu, Qihoo and Tencent fuel the massive push out of apps, Google Play and iOS represent only a minority.

“Apple and Google took very different approaches to China. Apple embraced China with spectacular success, but Google ultimately exited,” the post said. “Together with China’s inherent strengths and business dynamics, the Chinese app ecosystem now looks fundamentally different to all other markets.”

In terms of revenue, even though iOS remains the undisputed king of app stores, the combined global revenue of Android stores surpassed the iOS revenue for the first time in 2014.

“Apps in China must hit more than eight times the number of downloads on average compared to iOS to make the same amount of money,” the post said.