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With its ‘east meets west’ attitude the Hong Kong consumer-base is great for app developers. But, it can be hard to break into the market
In 2015 Hong Kong was the world’s 16th largest app market in the Apple App Store in paid installs and in-app purchase revenue — surpassing gigantic markets such as India, Sweden and Israel, among others, according to app store intelligence company, Priori Data.
Top Markets by Revenue, Apple App Store, 2015
Source: Priori Data
In 2015 Hong Kong was also the world’s 12th largest app market in the Google Play Store in terms of paid install and in-app purchase revenue, surpassing such large app markets as Brazil and Mexico.
Top Markets by Revenue, Google Play Store, 2015
Source: Priori Data
The data is not exclusive to either Android or iOS.
Hong Kong is ranked high in total app revenues in the Google Play Store, which is also the city’s largest marketplace in terms of total downloads (53.4%).
But, iOS apps and games control 66.8% of total mobile app and games revenue in Hong Kong.
With Hong Kong’s total population of just 7.28 million, several factors explain its sizeable app market. It has 80.7% smartphone penetration rate, according to e-Marketer and an average of 43 installed apps per smartphone user, according to Think With Google. That ranks above countries like Taiwan, Australia, India and Japan.
With its influence in mainland China and Taiwan, Hong Kong’s booming app market has been an attractive destination to international app publishers. Hong Kong has the reputation as an international city and its users are comfortable with a wide range of apps and games — from global hits to Japanese apps to locally-produced products.
Hong Kong – Asia’s frontier for soft-launching
According to Priori Data, in January 2016 six out of top 20 most downloaded apps from the Apple App Store were published by Hong-Kong-based developers.
Top 20 Apps In Terms of Downloads, iOS, January 2016
Source: Priori Data
In January 2016, five out of top 20 most downloaded games from the Apple App Store were published by Hong-Kong-based developers
Top 20 Games In Terms of Downloads, iOS, January 2016
Source: Priori Data
Hong Kong app store leaderboards have a high number of foreign apps compared to those of, say, China, Japan or South Korea, where there are few — if any — foreign names among the top 20 apps and games.
This is hardly surprising: while China, South Korea and Japan have unique market conditions, Hong Kong is attractive to foreign developers for its cosmopolitan users.
Launching does not equal dominating
While Hong Kong’s app market is one of region’s most dynamic, and is open to foreigners, it can be difficult to break in.
Hong Kong has relatively high levels of saturation at the top of a number of its categories, where top tier apps control significant shares of their respective market downloads.
In January 2016, the top three apps commanded 39.2% of all monthly downloads in the ‘entertainment’ category, 38.1% of monthly downloads in ‘travel’, 28.3% in ‘social networking’ (28.3%), and 22.6% in ‘photo and video’. These four categories were Hong Kong’s largest in terms of total downloads in 2015.
Category Tiers, iOS, 2015
Source: Priori Data
With so much competition from established brands, being able to take full advantage of the opportunities that Hong Kong’s market offers requires comprehensive strategic planning. App market data is a key primary resource in publisher’s’ decision-making process. However, such data providers charge high fees that few app developers can afford.
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