72% of iOS revenue ‘comes from in-app sales’

Nearly three quarters of all App Store revenue comes from in-app item sales, new data suggests.

A study published by smartphone analyst firm Distimo claims that the huge bulk of App Store cash comes from a relatively small crop of apps.

Only four per cent of iOS applications utilise in-app purchases, Distimo said, but these few products account for 72 per cent of total App Store revenues.

Half of all revenue (48%) is driven by free-to-play games using in-app purchases, the analyst data claimed, with another 24 per cent coming from microtransactions in paid-for apps.

Single-buy apps, with no in-app purchase incentives, accounts for just 28 per cent of total revenues, Distimo said.

In-app purchasing is the process of buying virtual items to either progress or enhance a game experience. Such goods can be anything from ‘vanity items’ such as avatar clothing to virtual currencies.

Speaking at the Verizon Developer Community Conference in Las Vegas, Distimo data analyst Hendrik Koekkoek said that the popularity of free iOS apps have grown 34 per cent since 2010.

The data was collated from the top 300 downloads in each App Store category.