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66 publishers made their first $1 million in annual revenue on the US App Store in 2016

Compared to 39 on Google Play, according to Sensor Tower

66 publishers made their first $1 million in annual revenue on the US App Store in 2016

There are almost twice as many app publishers generating their first $1 million in revenue on the App Store than on Google Play, according to Sensor Tower.

The analytics firm has published a report studying the number of publishers which have had their first $1 million revenue year on the App Store and Google Play. These figures are based purely on IAP revenue, not advertising earnings.

The study found that 66 App Store publishers reached $1 million in revenues for the first time in 2016, compared to 39 on Google Play. This is a 69% increase between the two.

Closing the gap

This gap is closing, however, with both platforms seeing increased spending. In 2015, just 34 publishers on the App Store reached $1 million in revenues, compared to 14 on Google Play.

While these figures including publishers of all kinds of apps, games are the most prominent $1 million generators. 75% of 2016's $1 million publishers on Google Play published games, while 47% of publishers made games on the App Store.

It is unlikely Google Play will begin matching the App Store any time soon though, according to Sensor Tower. It pointed out that Apple's platform frequently sees much higher revenues from IAPs than Google's, despite the latter's high install base and download volume.

You can read the full report on Sensor Tower's website.


Editor

Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.