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Distimo 2014, some rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Unveiling the Secrets
behind App Store
Category Dynamics
March 2014
Publication - March 2014
By Melania Calinescu, Analyst at Distimo
Solving the App-Puzzle
Unveiling the Secrets behind App Store
Category Dynamics
Which category is most popular with publishers? How many newcomer apps make it to the top in a month? Could
the category dynamics over time have a say in your app achieving higher positions in the app store rankings?
Investigating the evolution of app categories can be beneficial for both developers and decision makers. On the
one hand, selecting in which category to publish can impact ones app visibility. On the other hand, comparing
characteristics of various categories allows decision makers to grasp the bigger picture. This months report takes
a look at download and revenue numbers across categories to understand category dynamics in Google Play,
Apple App Store and Amazon Appstore. It offers insights into the app category structure by analyzing category
trends over time and whether such trends could map to a potential road to success in the app store.
The analysis in this report is based on data extracted directly from Distimo AppIQ and it covers February 2014 and
all AppIQ countries, unless otherwise stated.
Finance generated almost 71 percent more revenue on Google Play and 42 percent more revenue on Apple App
Store in February compared to January 2014, despite a slight overall market revenue decline.

The Winter Olympic Games had a strong influence also in the app market: the Sports category generated eleven
percent more device installs on Google Play and 41 percent more downloads on Apple App Store in February
compared to January 2014.

February was no longer a month to keep up with the New Years resolutions: download volume in Medical and
Health & Fitness went down on both Google Play and Apple App Store.
Games showed revenue superiority once again: 90 percent of all revenue generated on Google Play and 74 percent
of Apple App Store revenue in February 2014 came from Games.

Entertainment took the second place in terms of download volume, after Games, on both Apple App Store and
Amazon Appstore.

Games and Social Networking collected more than 90 percent of their iPhone revenue through the Freemium
Business Model.
Navigation was the only category that generated more iPhone revenue through Paid apps with in-app purchases
than through the Freemium Business Model.
The Business category was the most active in terms of attracting new apps on both Apple App Store and Google
Play in the free rankings in February 2014. In contrast, the gross rankings were topped by category Education on
both platforms.
Major Findings
Top Categories by Device Installs on Google Play
With only 28 days at its disposal, February 2014 overtook November 2013 in whole store revenue and download
volume for both Google Play and Apple App Store. Additionally, compared to January, an intensified flow of new
apps could be seen in most categories on Google Play as well as a faster rise of the newcomers to the Top Overall.
Apple App Store kept a steady pace in having newcomers reaching Top Overall with an increase in the Games
category in February 2014. The question thus arises, what makes an app category attractive to publishers?
Google Play
The first thing that comes to mind when speaking about successful app categories is Games, with its unbroken
stronghold of largest proportion of downloads and revenue within app stores for the past year. For Google Play,
the global share of Games in terms of device installs was around 41 percent in February 2014. Note that we
excluded category Widgets from the analysis since developers cannot actively choose to be featured in this
category.
Top Categories by Download Volume
All countries - February 2014
With a big gap after the most downloaded category but relatively close to each other in size, Communication
and Tools made the podium, followed by Entertainment and Social. Below the five percent barrier, Photography
reached highest with 4.3 percent of all device installs, followed by another hobby category, Music & Audio. The
next place was taken by the more serious Productivity category.
Apple App Store
On Apple App Store, in February 2014, Games accounted for almost 41 percent of all downloads, globally. Well
behind Games were Entertainment and Photo & Video, while Social Networking reaches only fourth place. The
first category with less than five percent of all downloads in February is Music, followed closely by Education and
Productivity.
41.2%
7.6%
7.2%
5.6%
5.4%
37.0%
Games
Communication
Tools
Entertainment
Social
Other
Looking at a downloads breakdown per device below, one would notice few interesting differences. While being
the top category on both devices, Games held almost 51 percent of all downloads on iPad and around 36 percent
on iPhone which could suggest that, for gaming, users prefer iPad over iPhone.
Moving further, Entertainment held a secure second place on both devices in February. Social Networking
followed on the third place on iPhone, managing however only the tenth place in terms of downloads on iPad. The
difference in positions suggests that iPhone is handier for Social Networking than iPad.
Top Categories by Downloads on the Apple App Store
Download Volume for Apple App Store per Device
Amazon Appstore
On the Amazon Appstore, Games lead with an impressive 61 percent of all downloads in February. The second
place, with only a sixth of all downloads, was occupied by Entertainment. Education and Productivity went hand in
hand on Amazon as well, while Kids had a more predominant presence compared to the Apple App Store.
40.6%
8.2%
6.2%
6.0% 5.6%
5.2%
30.9%
Games
Entertainment
Photo & Video
Social Networking
Lifestyle
Utilities
Other
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iPad
iPhone
After a month-over-month revenue increase in January, both Apple App Store and Google Play experienced a
slight decrease in February. While the Top Global Apps post from earlier this month also investigated what apps
flattened the revenue downslide on Google Play, we analyze in the following which categories still exhibited an
increasing trend despite the overall revenue decline.
Only four categories in Google Play escaped the revenue losses: Finance, Sports, News & Magazines and Games
which barely pulled into positive numbers with a 0.3 percent increase. The revenue spike for Finance built on the
extreme popularity of TurboTax SnapTax in the United States in both January and February 2014. A similar picture
can be painted in 2013, where TurboTax SnapTax kept the highest position in the Finance grossing charts from
January to April 2013.
In terms of device installs, Sports was the only category showing an ascending month-over-month trend in
February. This should come as no surprise given the many apps about the Winter Olympic Games. However, it
would appear that paying close attention to various Olympic sport performances came at the cost of ones fitness
activity, as we note that installs for Health & Fitness apps went down by 28 percent.
Revenue Trends in Categories
Revenue Growth per Category on Google Play
All countries - Growth from January to February 2014
-40%
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Top Categories by Downloads on the Amazon Appstore
When compared to data from a year ago, February 2013, most categories on Google Play grew both in terms of
device installs and generated revenue. The Social category was leading with a whopping 350 percent revenue
increase, while the steepest increase in terms of device installs was achieved by Photography, with almost 76
percent more installs in February 2014 than in the same month in 2013.
61.3%
10.3%
3.3%
2.9%
2.9%
2.6%
16.6%
Games
Entertainment
Social Networking
Utilities
Music
Kids
Other
Revenue Growth per Category on the Apple App Store
All countries - Growth from January to February 2014
For an interesting comparative analysis of Apple App Store category trends we chose September 2013, the first
month where the new Kids category was fully active. Most categories followed a rising trend, with Finance
reaching a record 161 percent more revenue due to the Intuit Inc. tax preparation apps. The Kids category
experienced a 114 percent revenue boost across the six months and took the lead in terms of download growth,
reaching as high as 121 percent more downloads on iPad and 24 percent on iPhone. The Medical category took the
second place in the top categories in the Apple App Store by download volume, with most downloads coming from
iPhone. Games also stepped up from September 2013 on both iPhone and iPad, with a greater stride on iPad.
For those interested, a more detailed analysis on the Games category across app stores is available in Distimos
September 2013 publication.
For a comprehensive analysis of category trends we took a closer look at the impressive dynamics of the Sports
category on both Google Play and Apple App Store over the last two months. The Sochi 2014 Results app drove the
great free downloads volume increase in February. Other apps that helped home fans keep track of their countrys
Olympics performance also had a major share on both app stores. The world map below shows how much each
country contributed to the growth of the Sports category for both Google Play and Apple App Store. Although in
the medal count at the Winter Olympic Games they came only fourth, in terms of share of installed Sports free
apps, United States was the indisputable leader on both platforms. Russia came in second on Google Play and
third on Apple App Store. Among the countries with the lowest Sports apps downloads volume we note China on
Google Play and Brazil on Apple App Store.
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-10%
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30%
40%
50%
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Similarly to Google Play, the Sports category increased in popularity in the Apple App Store as well. February 2014
brought around 15 percent more revenue and a remarkable 41 percent more downloads compared to January.
Decreasing enthusiasm in keeping New Year resolutions also in February took the revenue trend from Medical and
Health & Fitness categories into negative figures, although iPhone downloads for Medical made up the only other
iPhone category rise besides Sports. Despite the steep revenue increase in the Finance category and additional
positive percentages for Catalogs and Food & Drink, the revenue decline in the other categories tipped the
February revenue trend in the negative direction.
Country Contribution to the Sports Free App Downloads
February 2014
We have seen which categories generated more revenue in February worldwide on Apple App Store. We now take
a step back and investigate which business model yielded the highest contribution to the store revenue. On both
iPad and iPhone, the Freemium Business Model had a massive share of the device revenue.
Business Models
iPad
Free Apps with IAP Paid Apps without IAP Paid Apps with IAP
iPhone
85%
12,4%
2,7%
78,6%
18,7%
2,7%
Business Model on the Apple App Store per Device
Apple App Store Google Play
Japan
Germany
Italy
United Kingdom
Australia
China
Russia
Canada
United States
Brazil
Spain
Netherlands
France
Sweden
Turkey
Lets dive into the Apple App Store business models for iPhone. Zooming in to the category level, we see an
approximate 50-50 split between categories that generated most of their revenue from the freemium model
versus categories that generated most of their revenue from paid apps without in-app purchases (IAP).
Nonetheless, the top two highest revenue-generating categories, Games and Social Networking, collected more
than 90 percent of their revenue through the freemium business model. Paid apps with IAP had a generally
modest revenue share, except for Navigation, where it exceeded the freemium business models revenue share by
7 percentage points.
Business Model per Category on the Apple App Store for iPhone
Free Apps with IAP Paid Apps without IAP Paid Apps with IAP
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
35,4% 63,7% 0,9% Catalogs
47,6% 50,6% 1,9% Education
70,4% 27,8% 1,8% Entertainment
52,7% 43,1% 4,2% Finance
41,3% 55,0% 3,7% Food & Drink
92,0% 6,1% 2,0% Games
29,7% 66,6% 3,8% Health & Fitness
39,2% 59,0% 1,8% Kids
29,4% 68,1% 2,6% Medical
73,8% 23,3% 2,8% Music
21,0% 51,0% 28,0% Navigation
99,6%
0,2%
0,2%
Newsstand
37,6% 57,4% 5,0% Photo & Video
41,6% 56,5% 2,0% Productivity
90,6% 4,4% 5,0% Social Networking
68,9% 27,9% 3,1% Sports
31,4% 59,9% 8,7% Weather
In the free rankings on Google Play we see great motion in the Business category, almost 12 percent of the new
apps in February 2014 were published in the Business category. News & Magazines increased its percentage of
new apps from February 2013 but it attracted a smaller share of new apps, about 9 percent in February 2014.
In the gross rankings the categories most exposed to new apps include Education, Personalization and Travel &
Local. With a relatively smaller share of new apps, the Games category was however the incontestable leader in
seeing those newcomers to the Top Overall, on average 50 percent in February 2014 for both free and gross.
Also in the Apple App Store the Business category took the lead, with about 10 percent of most brand-new apps
in the free rankings in February 2014. The Education category was closing in on iPad, with only 9 percent less new
apps than in the Business category. In the gross rankings, Education and Utilities took 12 percent of new apps,
with Utilities going slightly ahead of Education on iPhone. The Kids category accumulated new apps the fastest
since its launch in September 2013, with a greater boost on iPad.
Another element to consider in our analysis of category dynamics is the presence of new apps across categories.
Are there many new apps published in categories that have a relatively small share of the app store downloads?
What is the proportion of new apps that make it to the Top Overall within the same month? We track over time
what categories are most dynamic from the perspective of new apps.
Newcomer apps
To sum up, the most successful category in February on both Google Play
and Apple App Store was Games. With an outstanding share of revenue and
download volume on both platforms it was also the category that carried
the largest proportion of new apps to the Top Overall. Additionally, Games
took the largest share of downloads in the Amazon Appstore.
After an interesting market growth in January, February brought a slightly
lower revenue volume. Despite this trend, Finance realized an amazing
increase in revenue, almost 71 percent on Google Play and 42 percent on
Apple App Store. Sports was the next most enriched category on Google
Play where it also was the only category with an increase in terms of device
installs.
Recap
Contact us
For sales inquiries, please contact us at sales@distimo.com
or call +31 30 82 00 567
For press inquiries please contact Mindy M. Hull at mindy@mercuryglobalpartners.com
or call +31 62 504 7680 (The Netherlands) or +1 415 889 9977 (San Francisco, United States)
Publication - March 2014 Melania Calinescu
Webinar
If you want to know more about categories in the app stores , please join our webinar on Thursday 3rd of April at
6:00 PM (CET)/ 09:00 AM (PST). Feel free to send us your questions regarding this topic in advance and we will
try to cover those points in the webinar. We would like to invite you to send us your questions related to the topics
covered in this publication. We will try to include some answers in the webinar, so please send your questions in
advance.
The Sports category had a massive increase also on Apple App Store, with 41 percent more downloads than
January. A breakdown per country for the categorys dynamics in February showed that most free apps in Sports
were downloaded in the United States, followed by Canada and Russia. Our investigation in successful business
models revealed that the freemium business model still produced the vastest share of revenue. The only exception
was Navigation that generated more revenue on iPhone through paid apps with IAP.
In the free rankings, the most active category in terms of attracting new apps was Business on both Apple App
Store and Google Play. In the gross rankings Education was the category that collected most new apps.
Building strategies to achieve success in the app store is challenging but taking into consideration how dynamic
the categories are over time as well as the percentage of new apps that rise quickly in the rankings could serve as
valuable information about what impacts an apps success.
Amsterdam London New York San Francisco Tokyo
www.distimo.com
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