Asia Is No. 1 Market for Mobile Apps, Study Says

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A woman walked with her smartphone in Shanghai. China is the No. 1 smartphone market in the world.Credit Carlos Barria/Reuters


The smartphone and tablet phenomena began in the United States, after Apple introduced the iPhone and the iPad. But most of the sales from mobile software are coming from Asia.

A new study by Distimo, a mobile apps research firm, found that Asia was the most lucrative mobile app market in the world. It said 41 percent of global app revenue in December came from Asia, while 31 percent came from North America and 23 percent from Europe.

Distimo’s report looked at revenue from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play store in various countries. Japan was the most lucrative mobile app market in Asia, followed by South Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, the report said.

Compared with a year earlier, South Korea had the highest revenue growth, at 271 percent, followed by Hong Kong at 211 percent and China at 203 percent.

These figures could encourage businesses and software developers to consider focusing on Asian countries by tailoring their apps for different cultures. The report’s findings also underscore how enormous the smartphone market has become in Asia, especially China,  the No. 1 smartphone market in the world.