Can Google Play dominate the app market in the coming years?
Google Play has been on the scene since October 2008 and during this six-year period it has grown to be one of the two biggest mobile app platforms in the world – alongside the App Store created by Apple. Google Play services those who use Android phones and, having started as the relative underdog, now has 84.7% of the overall market share, as pointed out by CNET. Of course market share does not automatically ensure dominance, but there are other signs that Google Play could achieve this.
Although Android has this massive slice of the mobile market, at the moment the actual Google Play app platform only has 39% market share distribution, compared with 61% for the App Store . This translates into higher revenues from the App Store, but the overall app market is growing fast and Android is cutting into iOS revenues, as Google targets users of lower-end smartphones costing less than $200 with its apps. Alongside tablet users this has helped Google Play reach 90% of the total App Store downloads. However, the problem has been converting that into profits, as better-off iPhone users have been more inclined to buy apps, but making the Android OS free and targeting users of Samsung mobiles in South Korea and Japan particularly, is now helping Google close this gap. Google Play’s revenues rose to 38.5% of the App Store’s (compared with one tenth a year before), indicating that sales of Android games apps in these countries is proving effective.
It is not just games apps that are helping Google Play catch the App Store, and increase its share of the market even further, as educational ones are proving a big hit in schools. The likes of Google Apps for Education are becoming a fixture in US schools, showing that the company has a varied strategy. The impressive performance of Google Play since 2008 and the spread of Android phones around the world, suggests we should all Google Play to win. General interests such as fashion, movies, and sports app are also becoming increasingly popular, with many being developed by individuals and companies. For example for sports fans who enjoy to check the odds on matches there is a Sports Bet Predictor app. These are easily downloadable to devices from the play google page and contain all the necessary information such as the developers details and independent reviews to help you make an informative decision.