A new report from researchers at Canalys confirms what many had suspected: a few leading mobile development firms account for the majority of app downloads and revenue. In fact, Canalys found that the top 25 developers accounted for 50 percent of revenue earned from the App Store and Google Play last month. Together, they earned about $60 million during just the first 20 days of November, leaving another $60 million for the thousands of smaller developers to split.
In addition, all of those top 25 developers except one (Pandora) are game developers. The report noted, “During the same period, games accounted for 145 on average of the top 300 paid apps in the Apple App Store and 116 of Google Play’s top 300 paid apps. Games also accounted for 94 of the top 300 listed free apps for Apple and 110 for Google Play.”
“Discoverability is a particular issue in the Apple App Store and in Google Play given the huge inventories they boast,” said Canalys Senior Analyst Tim Shepherd. “With top game developers’ content so prevalent in the stores, it can be hard for other good quality apps to get the attention they deserve. Developers of other kinds of apps need to consider how to promote them. Depending on the type of app, they should consider how best they can exploit social media and social recommendations, tactical sales promotions and discounts, branding tie-ups and targeted in-app advertising.”
