Apple continues to keep Google at bay in global app revenue, but the gap is slowly closing

Sensor Tower’s latest in-depth analysis of global mobile app revenue and download figures is out, and many of the conclusions are wholly unsurprising, confirming the same old trend. While Google’s Play Store continues to hold a massive advantage over Apple’s App Store in terms of the number of apps installed for the first time by its users, the Cupertino-based tech giant still reigns supreme when it comes to actual financial gains.
At the same time, it’s definitely worth highlighting that Q1 2019 was the first-ever quarter when iOS downloads declined year-on-year due primarily to a “downturn in China.” While App Store installs bounced back during Q2, the growth was not big enough to offset the previous quarter’s loss. Naturally, Apple is far more interested in making money than boosting download scores, but this can’t be viewed as a particularly encouraging trend.

As far as the most profitable apps across both mobile platforms go, Tinder continues to top the charts, followed by Netflix, China’s Tencent Video service, iQiyi (?!), and YouTube. Meanwhile, the newest list of the world’s biggest game earners is headlined by Tencent’s Honor of Kings, followed by Fate/Grand Order from Sony, Monster Strike, Candy Crush Saga, and PUBG Mobile.
Unsurprisingly, the App Store generated far more revenue than Google Play from games as well, but the latter’s numbers grew by 16.8 percent to $12 billion, while Apple reached $17.6 billion after a much humbler 7.8 percent year-on-year progress.