App Store Generating 4 Times More Cash Than Android Marketplace, Much Of It From China

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Remember the recent story about the App Store being worth more than all of RIM? Here’s another astounding factoid: Just the top 200 most-grossing App Store entries generate four times the revenue than everything offered by the Android Marketplace. A new report also pegs China as a major App Store user, accounting for 30 percent of overall downloads and nearly half of iPad apps.

According to researcher Distimo, after Apple announced it would accept Chinese Yuan, downloads from the Asian country almost doubled, rising to 30 percent – up from 18 percent in January. The numbers are even more staggering for iPad apps. China accounts for 44 percent of all App Store tablet downloads.

This shouldn’t be too surprising, given CEO Tim Cook’s fourth quarter remarks describing Apple’s progress in China as “amazing” and calling the country an “enormous opportunity” for the Cupertino, Calif. firm. China represents 16 percent of Apple’s overall revenue, or $4.52 billion, the tech giant reported during the September quarter.

Another interesting tidbit: 50 percent of App Store cash come from freemium and in-app purchases via the top 200 most-grossing apps, Distimo said. The App Store is still miles ahead of the Android Market. The iPhone alone has 79,077 App Store games, versus 46,045 Android Market game apps. When you toss in nearly 29,000 iPad games, Apple’s lead is even more clear.

With the end of 2011 almost upon us, Distimo added to the collection of Best of the Year compilations, this time naming Rovio’s Angry Birds as the year’s best app. The No. 2 slot went to Facebook’s app, while Skype, Angry Birds Rio and Google Maps rounded out the top-five. Not surprisingly, Google Maps was the only app not available in Apple’s App Store. The Apple-only iBooks App placed in the No. 6 position.

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