Distimo report highlights growth of in-app billing

Distimo, the leading mobile app analytics company, has today released its reports examining the movers and shakers for the year in each of the major mobile app stores across several territories. The reports contain a huge amount of data from the whole year covering Apple's App stores for the iPhone and iPad, Android marketplace, BlackBerry's App World, Windows Phone Marketplace, Nokia Ovi Store, and the Amazon Appstore.

The key findings from the reports are:

1. In all appstores the proportion of free applications surged significantly over the past year. In most appstores the average price of all apps decreased and the most popular applications are also cheaper than last year.

2. As publishers appear to be increasingly shunning one-off fees for their apps, in-app purchases in particular have emerged from several business models as the method of choice for app monetization.

3. The reports identify significant regional variations in download volumes with some regions exhibiting spectacular growth, while in other markets in-app purchases have take the fore as the main monetization method. The full reports contain complete details on download volumes and revenue details for all regions.

To download the reports in full, head over to the Distimo website - one report costs €699 for a single user license with concessions available for purchasing multiple territory reports.

MEF members can enjoy 15% off the cost of each - contact us for more information.

Here, Remco van den Elzen, Co-founder at Distimo, a strategic MEF partner, discusses the launch of a new report on Emerging Markets:

It is our pleasure to announce the publication of our report on the Emerging Markets, available exclusively for MEF members. The report is published as part of the strategic partnership between Distimo and the Mobile Entertainment Forum.

Distimo is all about mobile app store content and analytics, and Mobile Entertainment Forum has a strong history of driving mobile content adoption. We believe this equates to a great strategic partnership for both organisations.

This report reveals new insights into the Apple App Stores of Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The major findings are:

* The most popular applications are priced higher in the Emerging Markets than in the United States. Average prices have decreased in both regions however, since December 1, 2009.

* Applications in the Navigation and Medical categories are most expensive in the Emerging Markets, the same as they are in the United States. The average price of the most popular applications in the Finance, Medical, Navigation and Reference categories is higher however, in the Emerging Markets than in the United States due to a multitude of expensive applications that are only popular in the Emerging Markets.

* Games are more popular in the United States than in the Emerging Markets: 56% of the most popular applications in the United States are games, compared to only 29% in the Emerging Markets. The difference is even larger when it comes to revenue generation: 54% of the highest grossing applications in the United States are games compared to only 17% in the Emerging Markets.

* Instant messaging (IM) applications are among the most popular applications in the Emerging Markets of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Examples include WhatsApp Messenger, Live Messenger and Easy IM Free.

The full report is available exclusively to all MEF members.

MEF Executive Questionnaire #1: Vincent Hoogsteder, Distimo

MEF continues to seek new ways to profile its members and promote the thought-leadership of the senior executives within these companies. We are pleased to launch the MEF Executive Questionnaire to reveal the real people behind the industry in an informal and entertaining manner.

This will be a regular feature of the MEF blog, so make sure you subscribe via email or RSS. If you are a senior executive from one of our member companies and would like to be featured then please contact MEF Marketing Director, Stephen Jenkins.

The first in the series is from Vincent Hoogsteder, Co-Founder and CEO of Distimo, the app store analytics company.

1. Please describe briefly your main company activities and your role within that organisation
Distimo provides in-depth reports for companies interested in the mobile application ecosystem, providing valuable insight into important trends happening within application stores. My role within Distimo is co-founder and CEO.

2. Without necessarily revealing any confidential information, please outline the principal business models your company uses
Our clients are handset manufacturers and carriers worldwide, which we deliver custom reports on the app store market on a subscription basis. Additionally we provide application developers a free tool to monitor their own and competing applications in all app stores.

3. What has been your company’s greatest achievement to-date?
Within a short period of time, we were able to gain a solid position for Distimo in the rapidly developing mobile app market, working with leading handset manufacturers and carriers around the globe.

4. What is your company currently working on that is going to move the industry forward?
We are constantly improving our analyses of the mobile app store market, providing increased transparency for handset manufacturers, carriers and developers. The insights that we deliver will help these companies make well-founded decisions in their mobile content strategies.

5. What is exciting you most in 2010 (either personally or professionally)?
We have a tremendously exciting year ahead. The opportunities for mobile content have never been larger. With over 35 mobile application stores already in the market and a growing number of app store enabled devices, the worldwide consumer reach of mobile content is showing a strong growth path. Everything is in place to bring innovative new mobile content services to the market and it will be great experiencing all the new things to come.

6. What is the most important piece of technology in your life?
My mobile phone, by far.

7. What mobile device(s) do you use?
At Distimo, everybody in the team switches from primary mobile device every few months. This helps us understand better how users experience the various platforms and stores. The devices I used the last few months are the Nokia E71, iPhone and the Android G1.

8. What’s your favourite application?
Shazam

9. What’s your ringtone?
None.

10. Which mobile industry blogs do you regularly read and why?
TechCrunch, GigaOM, VentureBeat. They provide great analyses on everything in Internet & mobile.

11. What is the biggest mobile content issue that is likely to affect the industry within the next 12 months?
Fragmentation of platforms, where developers need to tailor their applications to specific platform or handset versions.

12. Which other MEF member organisation do you most admire?
AdMob; the company heavily impacted the industry in a very short time span.