Android App Revenue To Surpass Apple App Revenue This Year

App Annie, the research firm, is predicting Apple will lose its first place position over Android, based on revenue from mobile apps during 2017.

According to a press release highlighting new research, for 2017 consumer spend in Android stores will surpass the App Store, driven by increasing global app installs in Google Play and in third-party Android stores. The research firm did note that over the next five years, Apple’s customer base, which is affluent, will continue to spend more revenue per device than Android customers. App Annie is projecting the iOS App Store will generate more than $60 billion in gross consumer spend in 2021, keeping its top position in app store sales.

Overall, App Annie is projecting consumer spending on apps will reach $139 billion in revenue in 2021, aided in part by an increase in in-app subscriptions. U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and the U.K. are expected to represent 85 percent of the global consumer spend in 2021, while emerging markets, particularly India, Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia, will drive downloads in mobile app stores. Global downloads across all mobile app stores are forecasted to increase 20 percent annually, reaching 352 billion in 2021, App Annie said.

“Apps are transforming the way consumers interact with products, services, content and brands, across verticals globally,” said Danielle Levitas, SVP of research at App Annie, in the news release. “Apps are creating an intimate, highly -personalized environment for brands to engage with users. Consumers are already spending twice as much time in apps than they did two years ago, which means it is increasingly critical for companies to build a successful business on apps if they haven’t already.”