The latest App Annie statistics show Google has already overtaken iOS app downloads much faster than anyone would have anticipated. Just a few weeks ago it was reported that the Google Play store was seeing its download numbers grow at a much faster rate than the App store saw during its first months.
According to Forbes a key factor in the growth of Android App downloads happened when Japan and South Korea in 1Q 2013. This was followed by an equally lucrative surge in India and Russia during 2Q 2013. Since that time, Russia and Brazil have become the top five countries for Google Play app downloads.
While Google is outpacing iOS, it still has the lead in terms of app revenue. Apple's App Store is ahead of Google Play by 130 percent. However, this lead is shrinking rapidly. Just two years ago, the iOS lead was more than 400 percent. If Google Play keeps up at the pace it is going, it's only a matter of time before Google will overtake iOS in revenue generation. The key will be the flood of cheap Android phones that have started dominating the smartphone markets in Chine, India, Russia and Brazil - these act as the most important growth engines for the global smartphone market.
This business strategy could be foiled by Apple's new rumored low-cost iPhone. The company is rumored to be creating a plastic backed iPhone Lite, otherwise rumored to be nicknamed the iPhone C. This will help Apple compete on the low-end smarphone market where Android is raking up a great deal of its app downloads. With Apple actively competing on the low-end market, only time will tell what impact it will have on Android's Google Play store. According to Forbes, the places Apple needs to hit Google hard are in Latin America, India and China before they can even be in the running to dethrone Android.