App Store Sales For Android To Overtake Apple's iOS, Research Firm Says (sfgate.com) 53
An anonymous reader shares a report: For years, Apple's App Store, the place where people download apps for games and social networking services on their iPhones, has generated far more revenue worldwide than its Android competitors. This year, things are changing: The App Store will fall second to the amount of revenue generated by Android app distributors, predicts analytics firm App Annie. In 2017, the App Store will generate $40 billion in revenue, while Android app stores run by Google and other parties will generate $41 billion, App Annie said. That gap is expected to widen in 2021, with Android app stores generating $78 billion in revenue and Apple's App Store at $60 billion in revenue, according to App Annie's report released on Wednesday. The surge in revenue for Android comes from a growing number of consumers in China who are buying Android phones and are willing to pay for apps. In 2021, App Annie expects there to be eight Android smartphone users to every single iPhone user in China.
"Other app stores" (Score:1)
You mean all the android app stores combined will beat the singular Apple AppStore. Does that include amazon?
Re: "Other app stores" (Score:1)
Does it matter? It only takes a few minutes to upload the apps onto each store.
Do you shop at only one grocery store? If not why not?
Re:"Other app stores" (Score:4, Informative)
You mean all the android app stores combined will beat the singular Apple AppStore. Does that include amazon?
Yup. If you dig into it, they indicate that Google Play accounts for 51% of Android's app revenue. The rest is other Android stores, predominantly in China where Google Play doesn't exist. Presumably Amazon would be included as well.
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If you dig into it
You mean actually read the forwarded article? Jesus, have you lost your mind?!?
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I think you have me confused for someone else. My screen name is Anubis IV, not Jesus.
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Was about to say the same thing - it's like how they used to stack Mac sales against every PC maker combined...
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And yes, I get that this was your point; this is Slashdot, most people here will miss it if you don't spell it out.
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Every PC maker vs every Mac maker
Fair comparison
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it's like how they used to stack Mac sales against every PC maker combined...
So unfair to Apple! sniff.
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Re:Most Android apps are garbage (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm seriously considering switching to Android as my next phone, too. My iPhone is beginning to irritate me. I have to press the home button twice before I can enter my PIN, I have only one button (a back button and the other button to switch between apps or kill them would be nice), and there is no light like I see on Android phones indicating that a message arrived and needs answering, etc. These are all things that Apple just doesn't have, and their sandbox is just becoming more of a hindrance.
Like you say, if you're a moron who installs every spammy app you find, then tough luck for you, but I would have a much better experience with Android than I do with my locked-down sandboxed walled garden that is lacking some useful features because Apple knows best. Sorry, but they don't know best, and I'm getting sick of it. I'll still use my MacBook Pro as my desktop OS at home, but as far as a phone goes, iPhone isn't cutting it anymore, and Huawei are making some damned fast phones that look very attractive indeed (and are way cheaper).
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I have an iPhone 5C, which means I have to press it twice. There is no need to have to press it twice on my model, other than to irritate me in order to force me to buy a new iPhone. This is unnecessary for "legacy" iPhones and Apple should have retained the one-press behaviour for phones without a fingerprint reader
No good if
In 2021 (Score:5, Funny)
I am STILL waiting for Apple to go broke because they did not put Flash on the iPhone.
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Yeah these are the same tea leaf readers who used to say Windows Phone was gonna have double digit market share.
It's all they had left. (Score:1)
First it was number of apps. Then that fell. Then it was app quality. Then that fell too. Then it was revenue generated. Now that has fallen as well.
What will Apple fanbois do?
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Continue laughing all the way to the bank?
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Apple stockholders certainly will, but Apple app devs - and most fanbois with zero financial stake - won't.
So what does that tell us about the laughing Fandroids with zero financial stake? Like the OP?
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Keeping more profit per app sale and having more buyers more often?
Or a lot more profit per sale but less buyers interested on another system?
If only some easy to compare app could be tracked for sales on both systems and the real profits back to the developer compared.
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All fanbois will probably keep using whatever platform they like. As an iOS user personally, I could care less how much money they make off of the App Store. In fact, I had never even factored that into my purchasing decision.
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Crapple
No need for that, "Apple" is offensive enough.
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Laugh that it takes 5 times as many users to generate the same amount of revenue?
Could jailbreaking being dead be a major factor? (Score:1)
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I've never jail broken my iPhones but the phone is no longer doing it for me anymore. It's too restrictive and Apple's "we know best" mentality for everything is just driving me nuts. Their iCloud mail is SO SLOW to check for new messages, too. I think I'll ditch that and go to Gmail or something, too.
Re:Could jailbreaking being dead be a major factor (Score:5, Insightful)
Not likely - in fact, it's likely to go the other way around. It turns out a MAJOR reason to jailbreak was to pirate apps, and well, Android still lets you do it (which is why Android malware is generally quite virulent - people will give up their entire phone's data to save 99 cents).
The real interesting fact is that after all these years of Android outselling iOS by 4:1 or more, the app store revenue will finally be equal. Either Android users pirate a lot (which they do - the piracy rate is comparable to that of the PC - around 90%), or they don't buy apps. Google can activate a billion devices in a year and despite all those phones, developers still don't make as much money.
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You know what really, really bugs me? That I can't replace my steering wheel with a set of forked handles like I used playing Road Blasters in the arcade when I was 10. I paid for the dang thing; I want CONTROL over it!
Joking aside, you can shut off that plugin beep by just switching your phone to silent mode. Also, you can use an app like PhoneView to copy all kinds of things on and off you phone, including message history and call logs, without jailbreaking.
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Yeah jailbreaking. That thing that only a fraction of a single percent of iPhone owners do.
easy way to tell (Score:1)
Last nail in the coffin (Score:3)
Last nail in the coffin for Apple... now Donald Trump owns one. [cnet.com]
Willing to pay for apps? (Score:1)
The surge in revenue for Android comes from a growing number of consumers in China who are buying Android phones and are getting ads from free malware apps.
FTFY
But... but... but.. (Score:2)
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>90% of iOS users do.
>90% of Android users don't.
Headline construction (Score:2)