The report was published by mobile analysts App Annie. It speculates that the boost could have been caused by the exceptional success of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China. Phones with screens between 5 and 7-inches represented 60 percent of all Chinese shipments this quarter compared with only 40 percent in the US and the rest of the world.
The report says: “China’s surge may have been partially caused by the recent launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. While both the United States and China are two of Apple’s strongest markets, demand for smartphones with larger screens seems to be particularly high in Asia.”
This increase has also resulted in the loss of market share for Google’s rival platform — Android. Chinese Android users don’t have access to the official Google Play store and instead rely on third-party vendors to download apps.
As a consequence Apple’s App Store experienced 70 percent higher revenue than Android in China during the first quarter of 2015, highlighting just how big the Chinese market for iPhones now is. This was up from 60 percent during the third quarter of 2014.
Recent trends have indicated that Android may finally have caught up iOS for revenue but this report strongly suggests otherwise. Mashable notes that iOS users are not only spending more money than Android users but also more quickly.
When looking at the entire world, the Google Play Store still dominates overall app downloads though. This is to be expected seeing as the number of Android devices sold massively outweighs the number of iPhones. A recent estimate found that there may be over 18,000 unique Android-powered products built to-date.
