App Stores Continue Growth, Consumer Spend Growing 28% Year-On-Year
Historic performance in the third quarter of 2017 saw iOS and Google Play downloads grow by over 8% year-over-year.
This data comes from App Annie, who has released data on the performance of the app economy in the third quarter of 2017.
Worldwide consumer spend for iOS and Google Play combined also hit $17bn, a massive year-on-year growth of 28%.
App usage also continued to grow – time spent on apps worldwide for Android users growing 40% year-over-year, coming close to 325bn hours in Q3 2017.
Google Play also continued its lead over iOS for downloads, the gap widening from 115% in Q3 2016 to 125% in Q4 2017.

Interestingly, India was the biggest contributor to download growth by a wide margin, Google Play downloads increasing at a “staggering” pace – the total nearly twice as high in Q3 2017 compared to the year before.
Vietnam and Indonesia also both saw double-digit growth rates, with Indonesia holding onto its 4th place ranking and Vietnam moving up one spot to 7th place in Q3 2017.
For iOS, worldwide downloads surged 8% over the previous quarter of 2017, with China leading the charge.
In Q3 2017, worldwide consumer spend on iOS was nearly double that of Google Play as it increased its lead compared to Q3 2016.
Both stores, however, reached record levels as they experienced impressive year-over-year growth rates above 25%.

App Annie said: “iOS and Google Play’s record setting performance in Q3 2017 for both downloads and consumer spend clearly demonstrates that the already massive worldwide app economy is showing no signs of slowing down.
“Between the continuing influx of new smartphone users in emerging markets to the increasing spend of more seasoned app users, mobile apps are still just scratching the surface of their overall potential.
“In fact, we forecast that worldwide downloads will reach nearly 240 billion and consumer spend will exceed $100 billion in 2021 on iOS and Google Play combined.”
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