Top 1% apps, games publishers generate over 80% of installs, 90% of revenue: Study

According to Sensor Tower study, top-performing 1 per cent of app publishers were responsible for 80 per cent of 2,960 crores downloads in the September-ending quarter. So we can safely assume that only top-performing publishers were able to generate maximum app installs, thus gaining more users.

Meaning, remaining 99 per cent of app publishers were able to generate just 20 per cent of total installs, which is 600 crores. This is the extent to which the competition has reached in the app market worldwide where only a handful of successful publishers, as well as internet companies, have been able to add new users.

The app market has changed exponentially in the last few years. In 2018, there were over 34 lakhs apps available across Google Play and the App Store, up 35 per cent from 22 lakhs apps available in 2014, the research notes. But the number of apps that have been downloaded at least 1,000 times has decreased between 2014 - 2018, down 30 per cent in 2014 to 26 per cent in 2018.

"In a continually growing market where most publishers are competing against the publishers controlling 80 per cent of all new user acquisition, standing out among the competition is more crucial than ever," Sensor Tower said.

Apps downloads

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There were approximately 792,000 publishers globally across both the App Store and Google Play in 2019’s third quarter. The top 7,920 of app publishers generated 2360 crores unique installs of 2960 crores total downloads. Remaining 600 cores downloads were shared among the remaining 784,080 publishers. Facebook, as a publisher, saw 68.2 million crores new installs during Q3 2019.

Games downloads

Top 1 per cent of 108,000 game publishers, 1080, generated 910 crores downloads. Remaining 200 crores downloads were split among the remaining 106,920 game publishers in the bottom 99 per cent.

Apps revenue

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According to the research, out of a total $22 billion in gross revenue generated during Q3 2019, top 1 per cent of app publishers alone generated $20.5 billion. $1.5 billion revenue was left over for the remaining 99 per cent of app publishers.

Games revenue

As for games, of the $16.3 billion generated by smartphone games across both Google Play and the App Store in Q3 2019, the top 1 per cent of game publishers generated $15.5 billion revenue. Remaining $800 million split between the remaining 99 per cent game publishers.

"While the disparity between the 1 and 99 percenters, when examined in the above metrics, are plain as day, the lack of difference in the revenue and download figures over the years is just as telling," the research stated.

"There has been very little fluctuation in the 1 per cent’s revenue and download share dating back to Q3 2014—meaning that, if this trend remains unchanged, the vast majority of publishers will continue to compete for the minority of new users," it added.