Google Play Downloads Hit Record High in Q4, Leads App Store by 145 Percent: App Annie

Google Play reportedly garnered more than 19 billion downloads in the fourth quarter of 2017, with year-over-year growth at 10 percent. According to a new report by App Annie, Google Play leads by 145 percent over Apple's App Store, which saw around 7.7 billion downloads. Interestingly, emerging markets like India, Indonesia, and Brazil, made up a big portion of the growth.

While Google Play Store scored over iOS App Store, the later still soared away in terms of revenue. The report says iOS accounted for $11.5 billion of worldwide consumer spending in Q4 2017 and maintained its nearly two times lead over Google Play ($5.9 billion). Both of them saw a 20 percent year-over-year growth worldwide for the quarter. The US had the strongest year-over-year growth, while South Korea took the second spot for Google Play, and Taiwan for the App Store. Meanwhile, Germany was ranked third on both platforms.

Notably, India surpassed the US for combined Android and iOS downloads for the first time in Q4. The report says the app usage grew rapidly in India, driven by the introduction of subsidised, unlimited 4G access by Reliance Jio.

The report also says apps are creating cashless societies in emerging markets in Asia. It noted, "India's 2016 banknote demonetisation, and the development of a Unified Payments Interface or UPI, are boosting the growth of payment apps." While Paytm maintained a strong position with over 30 percent penetration among Android phone users, App Annie said, other fintech launches such as PhonePe, Jio Wallet, and Google Tez could further shake up the market.

The three most popular categories on Google Play for year-over-year growth were Games, Finance, and Personalisation. Finance app downloads also soared on iOS, where they ranked second in terms of downloads in Q4. Growing interest in cryptocurrencies and upcoming tax session in the US could further help this category, App Annie predicts.

Interestingly, due to video streaming apps' in-app subscriptions, consumer spending on Entertainment apps across Google Play and App Store grew over four times from 2015 to 2017. On iOS, Shopping apps led the quarter with the strongest year-over-year category share growth. This is due to the m-commerce records set in the Holiday season, especially by Alibaba's Singles Day and Cyber Monday.