A high-level comparison of mobile app platforms

1. Patrick Kane | Priori Data GmbH | @prioridata
All platforms are created
equal – right?

2. What this talk covers
• “State of the Market” for mobile app
platforms
– Size / reach
– Composition by Category
– Growth
– Monetization
• Key considerations for developers
• Q&A

3. Who this is for...
• Those thinking about developing an app
• Those currently building an app
• Those optimizing an existing app
• Those investing in app developers

4. Who are we?
• We do app store analytics. We track
the performance of >2mm apps and
>250k developers across iOS, Android,
and Windows
prioridata.com

5. Key message
• There are very few “lucky winner” apps
in today’s app stores
• Success is becoming expensive. To
minimize the expense you need to
perform research on your platform,
category, and sub-category

6. Size

7. Overall Size
Metric
iOS
Android
# of apps
933k
942k
3.4%
4.5%
243k
251k
% growth
2.7%
4.6%
# of monthly
downloads
2.0bn
3.6bn
% growth
6.4%
1.0%
% growth
# of publishers
Source: Priori Global Insights Report, July 2013.

8. Overall Size
Metric
iOS
Android
Windows
# of apps
933k
942k
150k
3.4%
4.5%
2.8%
243k
251k
38k
% growth
2.7%
4.6%
3.1%
# of monthly
downloads
2.0bn
3.6bn
272mm
% growth
6.4%
1.0%
15.9%
% growth
# of publishers
Source: Priori Global Insights Report, July 2013.

9. Composition by Category

10. Composition by Category
• iOS and Android have virtually the same
proportion of games (~15% of all apps)
• But....games claim 56% of downloads
on iOS, while on Android the figure is
only 36%
Source: Priori Global Insights Report, July 2013.

11. Composition by Category
iOS - Top 5 Categories by
Monthly Downloads (mm)
Action Games
Android - Top 5 Categories
by Monthly Downloads (mm)
Tools
157
436
Entertainment
135
Casual Games
390
Arcade Games
133
Arcade Games
386
Puzzle Games
Communication
Adventure Games
103
0
50
Source: Priori Global Insights Report, July 2013.
100
150
200
257
Entertainment
119
254
0
100
200
300
400
500

12. Growth

13. Overall Growth
• # of Apps growing on both platforms at
nearly ~1,000 per day
• # of Publishers growing at 360 per day
on Android vs. 215 on iOS

14. A moment on growth
• Growth at a high-level is of minimal use
• More helpful is studying how your
particular category (or sub-category) is
growing

15. Growth by Category
iOS - Top 5 Categories by
Monthly Download Growth
(%)
Navigation
36.2%
Android - Top 5 Categories
by Monthly Download
Growth (%)
Transportation
41.9%
41.9%
Role Playing Games
27.3%
Travel and Local
Trivia Games
26.6%
Productivity
Puzzle Games
25.9%
Racing Games
Music Games
0.0%
19.8%
10.0%
Source: Priori Global Insights Report, July 2013.
20.0%
30.0%
Music and Audio
40.0%
0.0%
16.2%
11.0%
9.4%
10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0%

16. Growth by Category
iOS - Top 5 Categories by
Monthly Download Growth
(%)
Navigation
36.2%
Android - Top 5 Categories
by Monthly Download
Growth (%)
Transportation
41.9%
41.9%
Role Playing Games
27.3%
Travel and Local
Trivia Games
26.6%
Productivity
Puzzle Games
25.9%
Racing Games
Music Games
0.0%
19.8%
10.0%
Source: Priori Global Insights Report, July 2013.
20.0%
30.0%
Music and Audio
40.0%
0.0%
16.2%
11.0%
9.4%
10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0%

17. Navigation Category Growth
iOS - Top Navigation Sub-Category Growth (%)
Car Dealer Info
151.8%
Maps and Directions
121.8%
Car Rental
70.4%
Speed Meters
52.3%
Car Refuelling
0.0%
Source: Priori Sub-Category Tracker, July 2013.
29.8%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
120.0%
140.0%
160.0%

18. Growth by Category
iOS - Top 5 Categories by
Monthly Download Growth
(%)
Navigation
36.2%
Android - Top 5 Categories
by Monthly Download
Growth (%)
Transportation
41.9%
41.9%
Role Playing Games
27.3%
Travel and Local
Trivia Games
26.6%
Productivity
Puzzle Games
25.9%
Racing Games
Music Games
0.0%
19.8%
10.0%
Source: Priori Global Insights Report, July 2013.
20.0%
30.0%
Music and Audio
40.0%
0.0%
16.2%
11.0%
9.4%
10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0%

19. Top 10 Gaming Sub-Categories
Source: Priori Sub-Category Tracker, July 2013.

20. Growth by Country /
Sub-Category
Source: Priori Sub-Category Tracker, July 2013.

21. Monetization

22. Overall Monetization
Metric
iOS
Android
Paid apps (% of
total)
40%
20%
Apps w/ IAP (% of
total)
11%
5%
Downloads of paid
apps (% of total)
6%
0.3%
-47%
-10%
61%
28%
% growth
Downloads of apps
w/ IAP (% of total)
Source: Priori Global Insights Report, July 2013.

23. A moment on monetization
• Like growth, monetization is a micro
concept
• Depending on the type of app and your
monetization goals, the headline
monetization stats may point you in the
wrong direction

24. Monetization by Category
Source: Priori Global Insights Report, July 2013.

25. Monetization by Category
Source: Priori Global Insights Report, July 2013.

26. Conclusion

27. Sanity check
• App store analytics are important, but it
is by no means the only piece of the
puzzle...

28. Some additional considerations
•
•
•
•
User base (demographics)
Device base (fragmentation)
Developer environment (documentation)
App discovery / user acquisition

29. Sanity check
• App store analytics are important, but
you have a long journey
Source: Vision Mobile Developer Economics Report 2013

30. Your leverage
• There are hundreds of tools providers
vying for your relationship (so is Priori)
• Use this to your advantage: they can
lower your barriers to entry, minimize
cost, and much more
Source: Priori, Vision Mobile Developer Economics Report 2013

31. My final thoughts
• Unless you have an established brand,
start with one platform
• There are no shortcuts with app
development, and the game isn’t over
once you are in the store
• Know yourself: polished perfectionist?
iOS. Iterator? Android
Source: Priori Data, Vision Mobile Developer Economics Report 2013, Bubba VC.

32. prioridata.com
Contact us at info@prioridata.com

33. patrick@prioridata.com
Thank you!