Versions 8.1 and low-end on mobile dominate downloads from Windows stores
Table of contents:
- Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 adoption
- Low-end dominates on Windows Phone
- Translating applications is a good idea
- Games, and in-app purchases
For some time Microsoft has been sharing periodically figures about its application stores: Windows Store and Windows Phone Store The objective of those from Redmond is to keep the developer community informed about the interest and behavior of users in reference to downloaded applications. But the numbers also help to draw a picture of the situation of both systems in the market.
With all the published data we can get an idea of the state of the two Microsoft operating systemsIn fact, thanks to them we can not only discover the most demanded application categories or the most lucrative revenue path for developers, but also know the degree of implementation of the latest versions of Windows 8 and Windows Phone, as well as see the type of of most used smartphones with the latter.
Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 adoption
What is the share of Windows 8.1 with respect to the set of users of all versions of Windows 8? The answer is found in data indicating that, as of November 2014, around 92% of application downloads from the Windows Store were for Windows 8.1The latest version is therefore the already dominant one in the desktop store.
On mobile, however, things are not so clear. Based on app download data from the Windows Phone Store, Windows Phone 8.1 already represents 65%, but Windows Phone 8 is still considerably widespread Those that are slowly disappearing are downloads from devices running Windows Phone 7.x versions, which in November they did not even represent 5% of the total.
Low-end dominates on Windows Phone
But beyond the distribution between versions, in Windows Phone there is another fact to take into account and it is none other than the different devices from which the applications are downloaded. Here we can see, once again, the outstanding dominance of the low-end in the system, with the Lumia 520 clearly being the most widespread mobile, accumulating up to 25% of downloads, followed by the Lumia 530, the Lumia 625 and the Lumia 630.
And here is something that many developers should pay attention to: the question of RAM. Apps downloaded on devices with 512 MB of RAM (or 256 if Windows Phone 7.x) represented 71% of downloads In other words, if you develop an application for Windows Phone requiring 1 GB of RAM memory, you have to know that you will leave out more than two thirds of the user market, since they all move with input range terminals.
Translating applications is a good idea
Completing the information about who to develop for is good to know from where and in what language the application downloads are produced.And it is that one has to take into account that Windows stores are available in almost all countries in the world, with the Windows Store present in 242 markets and the Windows Phone Store in 191
In either of the two Microsoft app stores the largest consumer is the United States, representing more than 20% of downloads . The North American market is followed by China and India, with figures below 10% in both Windows and Windows Phone.
With the numbers above, no one should be surprised that the dominant language is English. Still, it's important to know that keeping the app in English only will barely reach 25% of users in both stores. The developers would do well to translate their creations, at least into Spanish, Chinese and Portuguese, which would allow them to reach around half the market.
Publishing an application in English only reaches 25% of the market. Adding Spanish, Chinese and Portuguese increases the percentage up to 50% of users.
Games, and in-app purchases
But if there is something more important than who to develop for, it is what to develop To respond to this, Microsoft usually publishes the classification of downloads by categories, revealing the types of applications most demanded by users. And here things remain as they have been until now.
Games, productivity apps and tools, and music and video apps are the most downloaded apps in both the Windows Store and the Windows Phone Store. This has been the case for a long time, with no changes to highlight except for the even greater growth of games on Windows, which already accumulates 42% of downloads of the Windows Store.
Of course, it must also be clear that games is one of the most populated categories, so its importance in number of downloads may be overstated. If downloads are weighted by the number of applications available, things change, and social and photo applications rise to the top two positions of the two stores, relegating games to third place.
In any case, the objective of any developer is probably to obtain income and for this what is interesting is to know the best monetization options. Here Microsoft highlights that the most lucrative avenues seem to be online and in-app purchases The first stands out representing 53% of the revenue generated, while in-app purchases -app keep 35%, being the option chosen by the top 20 most downloaded applications.
The figures for a review that represents the last year of 2014 end with this data. Figures that many developers will be grateful for and to which we have all contributed with our downloads. How they evolve will always be our responsibility, although Microsoft has a lot to say in it. Even more so when Redmonders could be preparing a whole revolution in the form of a completely unified store for mobile and desktop Will we see it in 2015?
Via | Building Apps for Windows
