Freemium Apps Now Account for 72 Percent of Downloads

Apple users love downloading free apps that include the option to buy a premium version. The rise of so-called “fremium” apps now accounts for nearly three of every four App Store downloads, finds new research. Downloads that include in-app purchases grew 34 percent since 2010 compared to just 7 percent for paid apps.

For Apple, the revenue split is 48 percent for free apps with in-app purchases with 24 percent for paid apps with in-app purchases. The remaining 28 percent of app sales came from paid-only apps, according to Distimo.

It came as little surprise freemium games comprise 65 percent of the top-grossing titles in the U.S. App Store. Other popular categories for in-app downloads include publishing and comics.

Of course, Apple doesn’t have the corner of freemium apps. In a similar trend, Android apps with in-app purchases are 68 percent of that market’s 25 top grossing titles.

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