iTunes and App Store Best of 2013
With the end of 2013 closing in, Apple's annual App Store and iTunes numbers are in, and among them we find an eclectic mix of apps, albums, movies, books, and other varied content categories. Not surprisingly, “Candy Crush” topped the free iPhone apps chart …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple's end-of-year App Store and iTunes rankings have become a December ritual: the company crowned Instagram its iPhone App of the Year back in December 2011, and Flurry's record-breaking Christmas numbers in 2009 showed how much holiday download volume the storefront now absorbs. The 2013 edition arrives at a moment when Apple is simultaneously pushing iOS 7 optimization deadlines on developers and building a real-time bidding exchange for iAds.
The headline signal this year is Candy Crush topping the free iPhone apps chart — a free-to-play game with in-app purchases beating every other category for reach. The story traveled unusually wide for a rankings roundup, picked up the same day by USA Today, TechCrunch, MacRumors, VentureBeat, The Next Web, the Guardian, CNET and AppleInsider.
First-order effects
- Featured apps and media on the Best of 2013 lists get an immediate visibility boost heading into the highest-volume download weeks of the App Store's calendar.
- Candy Crush's top free-chart position hands King a marketing win at zero cost, validating in-app-purchase monetization over paid downloads as the route to the chart's summit.
Second-order effects
- Developers reading the list see where Apple's own editorial weight sits, reinforcing the shift of studio budgets toward free-to-play titles supported by ad inventory — demand that Apple's newly confirmed real-time bidding exchange for iAds is built to capture.
- Google Play's equivalent year-end rankings face direct comparison pressure, with cross-platform chart battles becoming part of the annual news cycle rather than an Apple-only event.
Third-order effects
- If free-to-play continues to dominate the charts Apple itself curates, the App Store's economics tilt further toward engagement-and-monetization businesses, squeezing premium paid apps out of the discovery channels that matter most.
- The annual Best-of franchise consolidates into an industry barometer: a single editorial endorsement from Apple each December that can shape which studios and genres attract talent and capital the following year.
The trend: Mobile app distribution is rotating from paid downloads toward free-to-play engagement economies, with Apple's own year-end editorial lists tracking and amplifying the shift.