The Apple App Store has vastly outpacedGoogle Play in sales of mobile applications this year, numbers showed Wednesday, Dec. 26.
According to 2012 numbers reported by market researcher Distimo, Google's revenue from sales of applications purchased from the Play store average about $680,000 per day for its top 200 apps.
On Apple's best 200 apps for iPhone and iPad, the company earns about $5.4 million per day.
Statistics show that Android is still the most popular operating system in the industry. This is no secret, considering hundreds of different devices are running a version of Android.
Although Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is available, some devices are shipped with older versions of the software. Most of those devices have access to the Google Play, Android's answer to Apple's App Store. That should equate to increased revenue from the store, correct? Not so fast.
Google's revenue from its Play store is derived from different sources such as searches, various ad searches, third party applications and, of course, when users buy applications directly from the store.
The giant disparity between Apple and Google app sales can be attributed directly to Android's target: the low cost sector. As millions of Android users will find, many Play apps are free. This continues to cause poor cohesiveness between Google and users seeking premium applications and willing to pay for them.
Apple, with its charge-leading iTunes, seems to have the premium sector figured out. Similar toiTunes, where nothing is free, the majority of apps in the App Store come with a price.
Designing for Android is also an increasing battle for developers. Simply making an app for a flagship device and popping it in the Play store isn't enough. Developers must ensure that apps work on about 600 different devices and multiple versions of Android.
