While the headline figure from Distimo's presentation deck from the Verizon Developers Conference was that 72 percent of revenue for iPhone apps comes from in-app purchases, that's not the whole story.
More striking is only 4 percent of iPhone apps include IAP.
The figure seemed so low, we had to check with Distimo that it was correct.
It is.
Freemium cash-in
The reasons are partly due to legacy issues, as IAP was enabled in June 2009, almost a year after the App Store launched.
The other is that although IAP works well for certain categories - notably games - the upfront paid model (or purely free) remains the most popular business model. Obviously, although games are the single largest App Store category, overall it's a minority.
Still, IAP is more popular for certain types of content.
According to Distimo's analysis, as expected, the proportion of free games that include IAP is significantly higher at 11 percent.
It's a similar situation with iPad apps; 7 percent of dedicated iPad content includes IAP, rising to 20 percent for free games
But, the conclusion remains that a mere 4 percent of iPhone content on the App Store is generating 72 percent of the revenue.
And that's why you should be including IAP in your games.
News
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.
Related Articles
Top Stories
News
May 4th, 2024
PocketGamer.biz Podcast Week in Views E10 - Brawl Stars smashes 2023 revenue, Square Enix’s extraordinary losses, and Haaland signs for Clash of Clans
News
May 3rd, 2024
Week in Views - Apple back themselves bigstyle, Clash bags Haaland and dreams come true at King
News
May 3rd, 2024
Week in Views - Apple back themselves bigstyle, Clash bags Haaland and dreams come true at King
News
May 3rd, 2024
Mobile Movers: All the latest appointments and job moves from around the industry
Events
LA Games Conference 2024 | North America | May 6th |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 7th |
Valencia Indie Summit 2024 | Europe | May 16th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Israel Mobile Summit 2024 | Middle East | Jun 6th |
WN Conference Istanbul 2024 | Jun 11th | |
DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |
Develop: Brighton 2024 | Europe | Jul 9th |