App store revenue in China grew by 70% last quarter

Apple’s continued Chinese expansion saw App Store revenue in China increase by 70% last quarter. That’s according to figures from a new Q1 2014 report from app analytics firm App Annie. Key to this increase is the China Mobile deal which was announced at the end of last year, opening up Apple’s potential customer base to the 763 million users currently on the country’s biggest mobile network. However while the figures certainly sound all well and good, currently Chinese customers spend less money on iOS apps than Japan.

China downloads the second most iOS apps in the world after the US, but it still spends less money on them than the much less-populated Japan, according to App Annie. The app analytics company’s new Q1 2014 report says China could be catching up to its island neighbor, however, showing exceptional gains in both downloads and revenue. iOS App Store revenue in China grew around 70 percent last quarter. In Q1 2014, China’s revenue growth was stronger than download growth for the first time. Games accounted for the majority of that rise, followed by travel and social networking apps. App Annie notes much of the revenue growth in games came from WeChat’s gaming platform.