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China contributes to one in three app downloads globally

The mobile app market is growing in staggering numbers.

Take a look at just the mobile games category: despite being consisting of relatively unsophisticated games made to fit the smartphone screen, it is one behemoth of a market –measuring at US$30 billion globally. Some big name mobile games studios such as Machine Zone are even capable of spending US$5 million to fund advertisements featuring celebrities such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, broadcasting them at mega events such as the Super Bowl.

Mixed that in with all the other mobile app categories and you got an industry that is expected to rake in a gross revenue of US$50.9 billion in 2016 and US$101.1 billion by 2020, according to a report released by app analytics company App Annie last month.

e27  dissects the report and takes a look at the findings pertinent to the APAC region.

Growth in APAC’s app market will be spearheaded by China, India and Indonesia

Unsurprisingly, China has biggest app market in APAC and will continue to be – it even contributes to one in three app downloads globally. This is partially fuelled by China’s rising adoption of iPhones.

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According to another App Annie report, the number of new iPad and iPhone users in China grew three times as fast as the US from 2014 – 2015. Apple reported that in the same year its revenue from China grew 85 per cent year-over-year, mostly coming from iPhone sales. Revenue from the iOS store in China also doubled in the same period, putting it just behind the US.

Following closely behind is India. A report showed that smartphone sales hit 28.3 million in Q3 of 2015, an increase of 21.3 per cent from Q3 2014. This growth was boosted by the increasingly low cost of Android smartphones–some going below US$50. From 2014 – 2015, total app downloads in India (iOS and Google Play store combined) increased by 1.5 times.

Indonesia’s app market is also benefitting from the boom in cheap smartphones. It is estimated that smartphone penetration will reach over 195 million people by 2017.

Overall, these factors will converge and enable APAC’s app revenue to hit US$28.3 billion this year, which is more than US, South America and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) combined. By 2020, it will hit US$57.5 billion.

Another contributing factor to the rise in app revenue in APAC is the third party Android stores in China and other emerging markets. Currently the app revenue from these stores sit below US$10 billion, by 2020, it will exceed US$20 billion. Average data usage in both India and Indonesia also increased over 50 per cent year-over-year, further indicating high app usage, and in turn, greater app revenue.

For app downloads, APAC is expected to experience 79.6 billion of it this year and will hit 162.2 billion in 2020.

Also Read: 6 ways to ensure your app stays on your users’ smartphone home screens

The post Ka-ching: China, India, Indonesia doubles APAC app revenue to US$57.5B by 2020 appeared first on e27.

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