Play Store Is 4 Times As Popular As iOS App Store in South Asia

By Gulshan Naz: South Asia is one of the biggest emerging smartphone markets in the world and users of these countries prefer Google Play Store to the Apple App Store when it comes to downloads according to a recent report from research firm App Annie.

Play Store gets four times the downloads of the iOS App Store. The firm details that games are the most downloaded app category in Southeast Asia for both platforms and the category keeps on showing explosive growth. Game downloads increase an astounding 45 percent year over year.

South Asia is potentially a $30 billion market according to the research firm NewZoo

The latest report from another firm focuses on Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The study predicts that the Southeast Asian region could become a frontier in mobile game market. The potential for the market could hit as much as $30 billion this year according to the research firm NewZoo.

Monetisation is a separate story though, as even with such a huge difference in app downloads in the region, Apple still manages to get 1.3 percent more than what Google earns, as far as the information for 2014 is concerned. Out of the whole of South Asia, Malaysia is the only country where Google earns more than Apple.

Revenues for mobile gaming in the region are better than the number of app downloads, almost twice than what was seen in the previous year. Malaysia and Vietnam have shown a growth rate of 150 and 115 percent respectively according to App Annie.

Revenue from gaming has seen a significant rise and is projected to continue its steep growth rate

Revenue generated from the game downloads can still grow a lot more as the generated revenue is only 25 percent of what is monetised in South Korea alone, which is one of the largest markets in Asia. While mobile games constituted to over 90 percent of South Korea’s app download earnings, Southeast Asia saw 50 percent for the same period in revenue.

The largest difference in terms of downloads was seen in Indonesia where Play Store got 9 times more downloads compared to iOS downloads. The report says that increase in smart phone penetration in the area made gaming more affordable in the region. App Annie further goes on to say that Android’s huge lead for downloads in Southeast Asia is caused by distribution and pricing in the region.