The mobile analytics firm App Annie has pegged, for the first time, that the combined Android app stores in the market will out earn Apple’s App Store this year. According to their report, they project that Android based stores will earn about $41 billion in 2017 compared to the $40 billion that Apple will earn with their app store. The report is quick to point out that the Android numbers are a combination of the various app stores for Android that exist, such as Amazon’s Underground and Samsung’s app store.
If you strip down the report to just the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, Apple still leads the way. The Google branded store will account for $20 billion of the projected $41 billion this year but the Apple store alone churns $40 billion in earnings.
Perhaps the more interesting tidbit of news is the CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of the app economy. App Annie predicts in their report that by 2021 (that’s only 4 years from now), app store revenues will be around $139 billion. To put that in perspective, those numbers would make it the 46th largest global economy based on GDP numbers from 2016.
Diving into the report further, Apple owners still spend more per app than Android users but the shift in revenue comes from the shear number of Android devices in the market. Android owners spend less but there are more of them. Volume, baby. As for the nations spending the most, that would be the United States, China, India, Brazil, and Indonesia. That is roughly expected to remain the same through 2021 but, with India a rapidly growing market, they could get into the Top 5 list by that time.
The report has a huge amount of details and insights and well worth taking the time to download and read for yourself. You can get it at the App Annie site (you’ll need to register to download it but that is free to do).
