Google Play downloads beat iTunes but falls short in sales

Riding strong performances in India and Brazil, Google Play’s total app downloads were higher than those in the iOS App Store in Q2 2013 according to this report.

Though Google Play had more downloads, the iOS App Store still generated 2.3x the revenue. The top of the country rankings for downloads and revenue in the iOS App Store and Google Play remained stable, but a couple emerging markets stood out from the pack in Q2 2013:

Russia has climbed six spots in the iOS App Store download rankings since Q2 2012 and broke into the top 5 in Q2 2013. This growth put Russia in the unique position as the only other country besides the United States in the top five countries by downloads for both the iOS App Store and Google Play.

Brazil climbed two spots and joined India and Russia in the top countries by downloads for Google Play, further establishing Google Play’s leadership position in those emerging markets.

Games continued to dominate the share of revenue for both app stores, and still accounted for a greater share in Google Play where it comprised over 80% of revenues vs. roughly 75% in the iOS App Store. While country rankings remained relatively stable, there was significant movement in a number of categories during Q2 2013:

The substantial growth of Music and Social Networking apps helped drive iOS App Store revenue.

Communications apps surged to #2 behind Games for Google Play downloads.

The Travel & Local category climbed two spots to #5 in the top categories by revenue for Google Play.

As of Q2 2013, app downloads in Google Play were about 10% higher than those in the iOS App Store. Though Google Play led the iOS App Store in one key measure, there still remained a wide gap in app monetization, as the iOS App Store generated 2.3x the app revenue of Google Play.