App Annie: Apple App Store revenues still 2.6x higher than Google Play

Apple's App Store generated revenues 2.6x greater than the rival Google's Play store front during the first quarter of 2013, down from a multiple of 4x during the fourth quarter of 2012, analytics provider App Annie reports.

The US continues to lead all international markets on iOS app downloads, unchanged from the previous quarter. Here are the top 5 :

1. US
2. China
3. UK
4. Japan
5. France

China has started to gain momentum in the iOS App Store and was the leading contributor to the increase in iOS downloads from Q4 2012 to Q1 2013. While Games were the top category for downloads growth in China, gains were seen in many other categories as well. All together, these four key countries have been driving roughly half of total iOS downloads.

The top 5 by revenue for iOS are :

1. US
2. Japan
3. UK
4. China
5. Australia

U.S. and Japan together are responsible for close to half of all App Store revenues.

The U.S. tops all markets on Google Play downloads as well. The top 5 are :

1. US
2. South Korea
3. India
4. Russia
5. Japan

China is not listed as the Play Store was not launched in China otherwise I reckon China should also be high up on the top 5 list. The top four countries represented roughly 40 percent of Android installs during the first quarter, compared to about 50 percent for iOS.

Top 5 by revenue for Android :

1. Japan
2. South Korea
3. US
4. UK
5. Germany

The top 3 countries dominate Google Play, covering approximately 70 percent of its worldwide revenue. Their revenues are largely driven by games than any other countries' with South Korea  surpassing the 95 percent mark, while Japan has exceeded 90 percent.

Games continue to drive the overwhelming majority of worldwide revenues in both the App Store and Google Play, App Annie added. As of the first quarter, the category accounts for 70 percent of iOS revenues and close to 80 percent of Android revenues.

In short, its a still a gaming economy on both App Stores and it will continue to be driven by Games. The Play store is definitely catching up very quickly thanks to the exponential Android OS take up rate. Apple has to buck up quickly if they want to continue to dominate the space.