Chart of the Week

Chart of the Week: Value of Korean app market up 759% in 2013

Why you need to be on Android and in Asia

Chart of the Week: Value of Korean app market up 759% in 2013

One conclusion from Distimo's 2013 in Review report is how much fastest Asia is growing than the developed countries.

Looking at the period January to November 2013, the market intelligence company estimates that thanks to the explosive affect of the KakaoTalk social network in Korea, the value of its app market grew 759 percent.

Other fast-growing countries in the region include China - up 280 percent - and Japan - up 245 percent.

This compares with 125 percent growth for Russia and sub-100 percent growth for the most active markets of North America and western Europe.

Follow the money

What's particularly interesting about the Korean and Japanese markets, however, is that they are already respectively the #3 and #2 app markets in terms of revenue.

Distimo ranks China as the #5 market in 2013, but because of its fragmented Android market, which replaces Google Play with dozens of local stores, this only accounts for iOS revenue.

Most likely China is already the #4 market and looking to overtake Korea in 2014.

A final point of significance is that both Korea and Japan (and China) are majority Android markets.

It all goes to show that if you wanted to make a lot of money in 2013, you need to release on Android and be in Asia; something Distimo highlighted in its list of the top grossing apps and publishers for 2013 (excluding December).

Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.