In many of our previous articles, you would have seen us telling you about how great the freemium model is for the Android audience. Now, we have a great statistic to back up our claims. Back in May, more than 98% of Google Play’s revenue came in from freemium apps.
One should remember that there are more than 1.5 million apps available on Google Play today. Unlike the iOS store, most apps have a freemium model. The apps are free to download but offer in-app purchases for various game items. Progressing in the games or using the app becomes a lot easier with those in-app purchases. It is this freemium model that brings in the most revenue in the Google Play Store today.
Freemium Apps Continue To Dominate
Interestingly, while 98% of revenue came from freemium apps only about half of May’s downloads comprised of freemium apps. This does bring in an interesting aspect. It seems freemium apps without upfront payments actually have a better chance to earn revenues than paid apps. We have already analyzed the benefit of freemium apps in some of our previous articles and thus it comes as no surprise to us.
Gaming Apps – The Powerhouse
Another interesting fact is the prominence of game apps in the Google Play Store in contrast to business apps and apps from other niche. Reports state that 90% of Google first quarter revenue came from games. While there has been some criticism of freemium apps as players buying certain in game items can get an added advantage, one should remember that this is the only way developers and make games accessible to everyone without charging upfront. This is the reason that freemium models are commercially successful.
Profit Scenario
Normally, it is seen that an app on the Play Store earns around $1,125 in profit. However, that doesn’t mean that every app makes a profit – many of these apps just wither away. We already stated in one of our articles about how bad the app earning scenario can be. However, on comparison with the Apple’s App Store, we see that an app on the iOS store earns around $4,000 on an average which is around nearly four times! On a side note, apps in Windows only rake in around $625 profit on an average. Android’s Google Pay Store though is making fast headway in countries of Asia and Russia which can make this average go up.
