Google Play app downloads now 2x iOS, but Android users spend half as much as iOS users, up from 1/4 a year ago; Play revenues may overtake App Store this year
Context & Ripple Effects
Benedict Evans' snapshot lands mid-way through a convergence App Annie has been tracking all year: the January 2014 Index already showed Play leading on downloads while the App Store held roughly 70% more revenue, and by Q1 the revenue gap was holding at 70%, propped up by China-driven App Store growth. What changed in this data point is the monetization ratio itself — Android users went from spending one-quarter of what iOS users spend to one-half in a single year.
First-order effects
- Developers weighing platform priority get a materially better case for shipping on Android first or simultaneously: Play's per-user spend doubling relative to iOS narrows the revenue argument for treating iOS as the only launch market.
Second-order effects
- Apple's counterweight is geographic, not structural — its China strength sustained the 70% revenue premium through Q1, so continued convergence pressures Apple to defend high-spend markets rather than chase install volume where Play's 2x download lead compounds.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — and later App Annie readings of Play hitting 100% more downloads with the spend gap still shrinking suggest it did — the app economy settles into two distinct businesses: an iOS market priced on per-device spend and an Android market priced on scale, making revenue-per-active-device, not installs, the metric that ranks platforms.
The trend: Google Play is closing the monetization gap with the App Store faster than Apple can widen its own advantages, shifting the app-platform contest from install share to per-user revenue.