Consequently, we expect the share of game downloads to decline from 42% to 32% over the forecast period. Looking at categories, game downloads will continue to grow but similar to global trends, will be outpaced by downloads of other apps as developers uncover new use cases for first-time users and as existing smartphone owners expand their app usage. iOS downloads will also increase, but at a lower rate thanks to Apple’s strength in maturing Chinese Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. Third-party Android stores will be the primary driver of this growth, increasing 2.6x from 2015 to 2020. We expect app downloads to hit 49.0 billion in 2016 and 90.2 billion by 2020 thanks to strong smartphone adoption in emerging China.

Third-Party Android Stores Dominate Downloads Through 2020 As a result, the installed base of smartphones and tablets in the country will grow 2.1x to 1.4 billion by 2020. Continued declining prices of high-quality Android smartphones will contribute to expanding smartphone ownership in emerging China. While smartphone ownership in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities like Beijing and Harbin nears saturation, other cities and regions are still underpenetrated with significant room for growth. However, the lack of a unified distribution channel has proven to be a challenge for Android app developers targeting China.Ĭhina is a tale of two markets: mature and emerging and our forecast reflects the characteristics of both developed and emerging economies.

Looking at Android specifically, the absence of Google services (and Google Play) to date has created app distribution opportunities filled by numerous third-party Android stores, including some from prominent regional players like Tencent and Baidu. Given the prominence of smartphones, China is on track to become the largest single app market this year, surpassing the United States in gross app store spend. In this post, we share key insights on the China app market given its unique characteristics and growing dominance in the global market.Ĭhina is the largest smartphone market and many Chinese consumers view this device as their primary computing device. In the release of our mobile app store forecast, we highlighted the growth we are projecting across mature and emerging markets.

Download app store for china mobile