App Store Generated 80% More Revenue than the Play Store in H1, 2019

Global spending on mobile apps and games reportedly continued to grow throughout the first half of this year, with Apple’s App Store continuing to dominate Google Play by a large margin. According to the latest Store Intelligence report from Sensor Tower, the two largest mobile stores in the world generated a combined $39.7 billion in revenues, with the former accounting for an estimated $25.5 billion, while the latter could only muster $14.2 billion.

While App Store revenues were about 80 percent greater than that of Google Play, the report says that the latter grew faster than the former during the six-month period. According to the report, App Store revenues during H1, 2019, represent a 13.2 percent increase year-on-year, while Play Store revenues grew even faster, increasing 19.6 percent over the same period last year.

Mobile game spending was up 11.3 percent Y/Y in the first half, reaching an estimated $29.6 billion across both stores. The top-grossing game during the period was Tencent’s Honor of Kings, which grossed more than $728 million, not including China’s third-party Android stores. Fate/Grand Order from Sony Aniplex moved to No. 2, grossing an estimated $628 million, while Monster Strike from Mixi dropped to No. 3 overall, generating approximately $566 million. Perpetual fan-favorite Candy Crush Saga from King came in at No. 4, while Tencent’s cult-hit, PUBG Mobile, rounded out the top-five.

Tinder and Netflix were reportedly the highest-grossing non-game apps across both platforms in H1 2019. While the former generated an estimated $497 million in spending on the App Store and the Play Store combined, consumers spend $399 million on Netflix during the same period. Tencent Video, iQIYI and YouTube rounded out the top-five.

Overall, WhatsApp, Facebook and FB Messenger were the most popular apps across both platforms, while TikTok once again came in at No. 4 ahead of Instagram. First-time app installs totalled 56.7 billion, with the App Store accounting for 14.8 billion of those – a decline of 1.4 percent from the year-ago period. Google Play installs, meanwhile, grew 16.4 percent YoY to 41.9 billion, up from 36 billion in H1, 2018.