Social networks have for nearly a decade dominated the web, taking us from Friendster to MySpace and Mixi to Facebook. However, it is the combination of the mobile device, the technology and the app stores that have created new opportunities for global social experiences that were not possible in the web. As such, this has created new business opportunities for a whole host of publishers worldwide who are utilizing the camera, the microphone, real-time sharing, location-based technology and virtual items to reshape social experiences on mobile.
Apps like WeChat, LINE, Kakao, Zoosk, Badoo, Find My Friends and Facebook are at the forefront of this newfound growth. And some of those publishers are starting to figure out ways to monetize this distribution. This month’s Index report will highlight some of the key growth trends in the social networking category. And of course, we’ll bring you the top 10 publisher and app charts so you can see who’s up and who’s down.
Over the past year, Social Networking apps in the iOS App Store have been reaping their rewards. The category was the third-largest in iOS revenue as of January 2013, up from twelfth one year ago. While revenue growth was seen across all major countries, Japan stood out with a tenfold increase in monthly revenue year-over-year, led by the runaway success of LINE. Meanwhile, growth opportunities exist in China for local publishers, as iOS Social Networking downloads recently have begun to ramp up there.
Social Networking Apps Beginning To Monetize Their Downloads
It’s an exciting space for publishers when a category collectively starts to figure out how to monetize its large base of downloads. And in the last year, revenue growth for social networking apps has outpaced growth of its own downloads as well as revenue for other app categories.
As of January 2013, the Social Networking category ranked third in monthly revenues, behind only Games and Productivity in the iOS App Store. And that’s up 87% compared to January 2012 monthly revenues, representing 3% of total iOS App Store revenue. Its growth is impressive and nowhere near its ceiling.
Top Categories by Monthly Revenue iOS January 2013
| Category | Rank Change vs. Jan 2012 | ||||
| 1 | Games | - | |||
| 2 | Productivity | - | |||
| 3 | Social Networking | 9 | |||
| 4 | Entertainment | 1 | |||
| 5 | Education | 1 | |||
| 6 | Music | 1 | |||
| 7 | Books | 2 | |||
| 8 | News | 1 | |||
| 9 | Photo and Video | 4 | |||
| 10 | Lifestyle* | 1 | |||
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
Footnote: In July 2012, the iOS App Store separated out Food and Drink from Lifestyle. Without this definitional change, Lifestyle would have ranked 8th, News would have remained stable at 9th, and Photo and Video would have ranked 10th based on January 2013 revenue. In the January 2013 download rankings, Lifestyle would have ranked 3rd, Utilities 4th, and Photo and Video 5th.
The Social Networking category rose in the rankings across all major countries, but as shown below, Japan contributed notably with a tenfold increase in revenue. Voice and messaging app LINE already was at the top of Japan’s iOS download charts at the beginning of 2012; then it began moving up the top-grossing charts starting in April 2012 and has not slowed down since.
Footnote: * The Revenue Index metric provides an easy way of comparing different revenue numbers against each other. The baseline data point is typically set to an index value of 100. For example, if January has a Revenue Index of 100, while February has a Revenue Index of 200, then February revenue is 200/100=2 times as high as January revenue. If March then has a Revenue Index of 80, then March revenue is 80/100=80% of January revenue.
Interestingly, the Social Networking category’s nine-spot rise in the worldwide revenue rankings was achieved without a similarly steep rise in the worldwide download rankings, an indication that the category’s growth is maturing and translating downloads into revenues.
Top Categories by Monthly Downloads iOS January 2013
| Category | Rank Change vs. Jan 2012 | ||||
| 1 | Games | - | |||
| 2 | Entertainment | - | |||
| 3 | Utilities | - | |||
| 4 | Photo and Video | 2 | |||
| 5 | Lifestyle* | 1 | |||
| 6 | Social Networking | 1 | |||
| 7 | Music | - | |||
| 8 | Education | - | |||
| 9 | Productivity | 1 | |||
| 10 | Travel | 2 | |||
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
Social Networking monthly downloads were up 30% year-over-year, and currently represent 5% of total iOS App Store downloads. This kind of growth is perhaps not as stellar as that of other categories, but speaks to a category that has reached a certain level of maturity.
One of the fastest growing major countries by downloads for the social networking category is China, where monthly downloads doubled from January 2012 to January 2013. In fact, now half of the category’s worldwide downloads come from the United States and China. Social Networking app revenue in China still remains very minimal, so we look forward to seeing whether publishers monetize these new downloads over the coming year.
As indicated below, this category has been continuing to develop and evolve in China, as many of the top ten apps by downloads are new entrants as compared to last year. So far, growth opportunities have been realized primarily by local publishers.
Top Social Networking Apps by Monthly Downloads in China iOS January 2013
| App | Rank Change vs. Jan 2012 | ||||
| 1 | 微爱—情侣专属应用，情侣的微信、两人的微博、甜蜜的QQ (Micro Love... | New | |||
| 2 | 啪啪-让照片会说话 (PaPa-Photos Speak) | New | |||
| 3 | 2 | ||||
| 4 | Find My Friends | 26 | |||
| 5 | 遇见-陌生人约会交友 (Meet-Dating with strangers) | 9 | |||
| 6 | 爱聊免费电话短信 (Love Chat - Free Call and SMS) | New | |||
| 7 | 微博 (Weibo-Microblogging) | 3 | |||
| 8 | QQ 2012 | 6 | |||
| 9 | QQ HD 2013 | 4 | |||
| 10 | QQVoice网络电话 - 免费电话 (QQVoice Network Phone - Free Calling) | New | |||
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
One key app that contributed to the strong downloads growth in recent months was 微爱—情侣专属应用，情侣的微信、两人的微博、甜蜜的QQ (Micro Love - For Lovers), published by 北京发现角科技有限公司 (Discovery Bay). This app moved up the download rankings starting on December 3, 2012 and was at the top of the list in January 2013. Another contributor to the recent growth was the free communication and personals app 爱聊免费电话短信 (Love Chat - Free Call and SMS), published by Ailiao.
Facebook’s apps dominate downloads a year on
A year ago in January, the main Facebook app was the most downloaded social networking app worldwide on iOS for that month. A year later, it’s Facebook Messenger. Building its user base on mobile around a group of apps (now Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and Poke) is the necessary fuel for its advertising monetization fire.
Top Social Networking Apps by Monthly Downloads iOS January 2013
| App | Rank Change vs. Jan 2012 | Publisher | |||
| 1 | Facebook Messenger | 3 | |||
| 2 | Find My Friends | 16 | Apple | ||
| 3 | 2 | ||||
| 4 | 2 | ||||
| 5 | Skype | 2 | Microsoft | ||
| 6 | 4 | Tencent | |||
| 7 | Viber | 2 | Viber Media | ||
| 8 | 3 | ||||
| 9 | Skype for iPad | 1 | Microsoft | ||
| 10 | Tango | 3 | TangoMe | ||
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
Apple’s Find My Friends app, has risen to the second spot from #15 one year ago. Note that starting with iOS 6, which was released in September 2012, users are prompted with the option to download five free Apple apps, including Find My Friends.
Find My Friends on App Annie Store Stats
Other notable gainers include Tencent’s WeChat, as well as social pinboard Pinterest. WeChat, long the #1 social networking app in China, has seen its popularity spread abroad, particularly in South-East Asia and the Middle East. Often seen as China’s answer to WhatsApp Messenger, it’s interesting to see that in this month, it generated more downloads than WhatsApp (although it is a completely free app, whereas WhatsApp isn’t). With Tencent reported to have opened a team in the US focusing on international expansion, the question is how far can WeChat expand in the US?
The Money Is In Messaging and Dating
The entire top 10 for social networking apps by monthly revenue is dominated by first messaging apps, then dating apps.
LINE dethrones WhatsApp Messenger from a year ago by monetizing a predominantly Japanese audience through a variety of in-app purchase features. The Korean company has really led the social networking world in terms of monetizing users.
Interestingly, WhatsApp Messenger, which has traditionally always monetized through a $0.99 paid download, adopted a freemium subscription model with its newer Google Play version launched a year ago, where a $0.99 per year subscription kicks in after the first free year has passed.
Monetizing social network users on mobile is a hot topic for analysts looking at companies like Facebook and Twitter. What’s clear is that it’s still very early in this space, with much more in terms of innovation and revenue growth ahead.
Further down the top 10, it’s all dating apps. The big names in dating (e.g. Badoo, eHarmony and Match.com) are all present, as well as gay dating apps, notably Grindr Xtra and Scruff. Online dating has already established itself as a multi-billion dollar industry on the web – it’s no surprise that these companies are among the first in the social networking category to really work out how to monetize their users.
Top Social Networking Apps by Monthly Revenue iOS January 2013
| App | Rank Change vs. Jan 2012 | Publisher | |||
| 1 | LINE | New | NHN | ||
| 2 | WhatsApp Messenger | 1 | |||
| 3 | Zoosk | - | Zoosk | ||
| 4 | Badoo | 2 | Badoo Software | ||
| 5 | Grindr Xtra | 1 | Nearby Buddy Finder | ||
| 6 | eHarmony | 1 | eHarmony | ||
| 7 | AdopteUnMec | New | GEB AdoptAGuy | ||
| 8 | Scruff | 4 | Perry Street Software | ||
| 9 | 入会無料の出会いアプリYYC | New | Livedoor | ||
| 10 | match.com – the UK’s best known dating site | 2 | Match.com | ||
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
Top-Grossing iOS Social Networking Apps Differ Markedly by Region
In January 2013, Facebook Messenger led in app downloads not just worldwide, but in many countries around the world – including the English-speaking countries of the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, several other Western European countries such as Germany, France, and Italy, and also Thailand.
Top-downloaded apps for other countries were LINE in Japan and Spain, Vkontakte 2 in Russia, 微爱—情侣专属应用，情侣的微信、两人的微博、甜蜜的QQ (Micro Love - For Lovers) in China, and Find My Friends in Taiwan. When it came to top-grossing apps, however, regional differences were more apparent:
- LINE was the clear leader in Japan, as well as Thailand and Taiwan
- WhatsApp Messenger was top-grossing in the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Italy, and Spain
- Dating app Zoosk has grown steadily over the past year into the top-grossing iOS Social Networking app in the United States, Canada, and Australia
- AdopteUnMec or AdoptAGuy.com has been gaining revenue in France and moved into the top position there as of January 2013
LINE: Thailand, Taiwan, Japan WhatsApp: UK, Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain Zoosk: USA, Canada, Australia AdopteUnMec: France
iOS Top Publishers by Monthly Downloads
This month’s biggest mover was Imangi Studios, best known for producing the hit game Temple Run. On January 17, 2013, they launched the sequel, Temple Run 2, whose massive success helped the husband-and-wife team jump 34 spots to the #5 ranking in this month’s Index.
Tencent, the sole Asian publisher on this list, also rose 4 spots to rejoin the Top 10 this month. Meanwhile, Google moved up into the top spot for iOS App Store downloads with Google Maps and YouTube leading the way. When iOS 6 was released in September 2012, these two apps no longer were included. YouTube already has been available for users to download separately, but Google Maps was launched on the iOS App Store on December 13, 2012, so January represented this app’s first full month of downloads.
Top Publishers by Monthly Downloads iOS January 2013
| Publisher | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Category | Headquarters | # of Apps | |
| 1 | 1 | Various | USA | 28 | |
| 2 | Apple | 1 | Various | USA | 19 |
| 3 | Rovio | 1 | Games | Finland | 30 |
| 4 | Electronic Arts | 1 | Games | USA | 966 |
| 5 | Imangi Studios | 34 | Games | USA | 16 |
| 6 | Gameloft | 1 | Games | France | 261 |
| 7 | 1 | Various | USA | 6 | |
| 8 | Disney | 3 | Various | USA | 201 |
| 9 | Tencent | 4 | Various | China | 95 |
| 10 | Out Fit 7 | - | Games | Cyprus | 66 |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
iOS Top Publishers by Monthly Revenue
Sales for GungHo Online Entertainment continued to accelerate remarkably in January 2013. As indicated in their financial report for the fiscal year ending December 2012, worldwide sales for the year were over 25.8B yen (about 280MM USD). Their subsequent preliminary report for January 2013 indicated that sales for that month alone were close to 8.5B yen (about 92MM USD).
This single month represented close to 30% of sales for all of 2012 and represented an increase of 1022% over the same month one year ago. While GungHo also sells PC games and handheld games (e.g. PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS), its financial report pegged its leading growth driver to be mobile apps sold on the iOS App Store and Google Play. Their January 2013 report called out the success of their hit game Puzzle & Dragons in particular.
Puzzle & Dragons Japan (iOS, Google Play) drove GungHo to the top of the charts
King.com enjoyed the sweet success of Candy Crush Saga, moving up 8 spots to take the #6 ranking. As in recent months, NHN continued to move up this chart and is now ranked #7. Apple also appeared in this Top 10 list and was the only publisher in this list that produces no games.
Top Publishers by Monthly Revenue iOS January 2013
| Publisher | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Category | Headquarters | # of Apps | |
| 1 | GungHo Online | 4 | Games | Japan | 14 |
| 2 | Supercell | - | Games | Finland | 2 |
| 3 | Electronic Arts | 2 | Games | USA | 966 |
| 4 | Gameloft | 1 | Games | France | 261 |
| 5 | GREE | 1 | Games | Japan | 114 |
| 6 | King.com | 8 | Games | UK | 3 |
| 7 | NHN | 1 | Various | South Korea | 180 |
| 8 | Kabam | 1 | Games | USA | 8 |
| 9 | Zynga | 3 | Games | USA | 60 |
| 10 | Apple | 1 | Various | USA | 19 |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
Google Play Top Publishers by Monthly Downloads
This list had no major changes from last month, with the exception of Imangi Studios. The company’s Temple Run 2 game launched on Google Play on January 24, 2013. Together with the original Temple Run game, it helped push this publisher into the Top 10 for the month.
Top Publishers by Monthly Downloads Google Play January 2013
| Publisher | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Category | Headquarters | # of Apps | |
| 1 | - | Various | USA | 4 | |
| 2 | NHN | - | Various | South Korea | 152 |
| 3 | Google Inc. | 1 | Various | USA | 62 |
| 4 | Rovio | 1 | Games | Finland | 13 |
| 5 | GO Launcher | - | Tools | China | 301 |
| 6 | Outfit 7 | - | Entertainment | Cyprus | 30 |
| 7 | - | Social Networking | USA | 2 | |
| 8 | Halfbrick Studios | 1 | Games | Australia | 7 |
| 9 | Microsoft | 1 | Various | USA | 26 |
| 10 | Imangi Studios | 4 | Games | USA | 2 |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
Google Play Top Publishers by Monthly Revenue
Remarkably, GungHo led the Top Publishers by Monthly Revenue rankings not only for the iOS App Store, but also for Google Play. This was driven by the impressive cross-platform success of its hit game, Puzzle & Dragons.
We also see three new entrants in this month’s Top 10. The biggest mover was Actoz Soft, which entered the Top 10 after a ranking of #79 in December. Their app 밀리언아서 (Million Arthur), a Korean adaptation of an earlier Japanese hit, launched December 20, 2012 and was the main driver behind the company’s success this month. CJ E&M jumped 22 places to reach the #5 spot. The company continued to effectively leverage Kakao games with its success driven by its new release 다함께 차차차 (Cha Cha Cha).
This month’s Top 10 list now includes a US publisher again, with Kabam moving up 5 spots to the #9 spot.
Top Publishers by Monthly Revenue Google Play January 2013
| Publisher | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Category | Headquarters | # of Apps | |
| 1 | GungHo Online | 2 | Games | Japan | 9 |
| 2 | NHN | 1 | Various | South Korea | 152 |
| 3 | DeNA | 1 | Games | Japan | 184 |
| 4 | GREE | - | Games | Japan | 123 |
| 5 | CJ E&M | 22 | Games | South Korea | 20 |
| 6 | Com2uS | - | Games | South Korea | 86 |
| 7 | COLOPL | 2 | Games | Japan | 46 |
| 8 | Actoz Soft | 71 | Games | South Korea | 4 |
| 9 | Kabam | 5 | Games | USA | 3 |
| 10 | SUNDAYTOZ | - | Games | South Korea | 1 |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
iOS Top Games by Monthly Downloads
This month sees quite a shake-up, with seven of these ten games not having been on this list last month and two newly released games debuting in the Top 10. Imangi Studio’s Temple Run 2 took the #1 spot, propelled by 50MM downloads across all their platforms in under two weeks, setting a new record for the fastest-growing mobile game app.
Temple Run 2 sets new record with 50MM downloads in first two weeks
The Blockheads, Majic Jungle’s new sandbox game released on January 10, 2013, capitalized on the genre’s growing popularity and was the second app to debut in this month’s Top 10.
The word game Ruzzle also experienced dramatic success. Despite being released in early 2012, the game started a rapid rise in December and ranked in the Top 5 Overall Downloads on iOS from January 2, 2013 onward.
Fun Run - Multiplayer Race demonstrated how cuteness and the ability to play with friends resonates with consumers. As publishers learn how to integrate social with mobile (King.com’s success with Candy Crush Saga being another example), gamers will benefit through progressing from turn-based competition to real-time gaming with friends.
Icon Pop Quiz represents the sole Top 10 title published by an Indonesian company. The game has successfully combined pop culture, social integration, and minimalist retro design to appeal to a wide audience.
Angry Birds Rio by Rovio was a surprise entrant to the Top 10, given its release back in early 2011. On January 17, 2013, the app price changed from $0.99 to free and remained as such for the rest of the month. In addition, the app was featured on the iTunes Home Page across numerous countries from January 17 to 24. As shown in the United States chart below, Angry Birds Rio shot up to the top of the rankings during this time period.
Rail Rush also saw a similar scenario. On January 19, 2013, its price changed from $0.99 to free. In the United States, it moved from rank #314 on January 18 to rank #5 on January 21 among iPhone apps overall.
Top Games by Monthly Downloads iOS January 2013
| Game | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Publisher | Headquarters | Subcategory | |
| 1 | Temple Run 2 | New | Imangi Studios | USA | Adventure |
| 2 | Ruzzle | 41 | MAG Interactive | Sweden | Board |
| 3 | Subway Surfers | 2 | Kiloo | Denmark | Arcade |
| 4 | Candy Crush Saga | 1 | King.com | UK | Arcade |
| 5 | Fun Run | 6 | dirtyBit | Norway | Racing |
| 6 | Flow Free | 2 | Big Duck Games | USA | Puzzle |
| 7 | Icon Pop Quiz | 10 | Alegrium | Indonesia | Trivia |
| 8 | Rail Rush | 1171 | Miniclip.com | Switzerland | Arcade |
| 9 | Angry Birds Rio | 682 | Rovio | Finland | Arcade |
| 10 | The Blockheads | New | Majic Jungle | New Zealand | Adventure |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
iOS Top Games by Monthly Revenue
At the top of this month’s rankings was Puzzle & Dragons, the force that drove GungHo to the head of the publisher rankings. We also see Kabam joining Supercell as another publisher with more than one game in the Top 10. The Hobbit continued to move up, taking the number 10 spot.
Top Games By Monthly Revenue iOS January 2013
| Game | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Publisher | Headquarters | Subcategory | |
| 1 | Puzzle & Dragons | 2 | GungHo Online | Japan | Puzzle |
| 2 | Clash of Clans | 1 | Supercell | Finland | Strategy |
| 3 | Candy Crush Saga | 2 | King.com | UK | Arcade |
| 4 | Hay Day | - | Supercell | Finland | Simulation |
| 5 | The Simpsons™: Tap... | 3 | Electronic Arts | USA | Simulation |
| 6 | Minecraft – Pocket Edi... | 2 | Mojang | Sweden | Adventure |
| 7 | CSR Racing | - | NaturalMotion | UK | Arcade |
| 8 | Kingdoms of Camelot... | 2 | Kabam | USA | Simulation |
| 9 | DragonVale | - | Backflip Studios | USA | Simulation |
| 10 | The Hobbit: Kingdoms... | 4 | Kabam | USA | Strategy |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
Google Play Top Games by Monthly Downloads
Subway Surfers took the #1 spot in January with a 6-spot jump from its #7 ranking in December. The fact that this and Temple Run were both in the Top 5 shows how three-dimensional running games resonate with audiences.
Temple Run 2 was released on Google Play on January 24, 2013 and did not make this month’s Top 10. After it was released, rankings for the original Temple Run game began to decline.
Trial Xtreme 3, released December 20, 2012, jumped 414 spots to enter the Top 10 in January after being available in Google Play for the full month.
CJ E&M’s 다함께 차차차 (Cha Cha Cha), the robot-racing fusion game, was the sole app to debut in the Top 10 this month.
Candy Crush Saga continued to replicate on Google Play the success it had in the iOS App Store, having moved up 14 spots to make its first appearance in this Top 10 list.
Top Games by Monthly Downloads Google Play January 2013
| Game | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Publisher | Headquarters | Subcategory | |
| 1 | Subway Surfers | 6 | Kiloo Games | Denmark | Arcade & Action |
| 2 | Fruit Ninja Free | 3 | Halfbrick Studios | Australia | Arcade & Action |
| 3 | Angry Birds | 1 | Rovio | Finland | Arcade & Action |
| 4 | Temple Run | - | Imangi Studios | USA | Arcade & Action |
| 5 | Hill Climb Racing | 2 | Fingersoft | Finland | Racing |
| 6 | Trial Xtreme 3 | 414 | Deemedya | Israel | Racing |
| 7 | Angry Birds Star Wars | 6 | Rovio | Finland | Arcade & Action |
| 8 | Pou | 2 | Zakeh | Lebanon | Casual |
| 9 | 다함께 차차차 for Kakao | New | CJ E&M | South Korea | Casual |
| 10 | Candy Crush Saga | 14 | King.com | UK | Casual |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
Google Play Top Games by Monthly Revenue
Puzzle and Dragons continued its reign as the top-grossing game worldwide - not just in the iOS App Store, but also in Google Play.
Meanwhile, CJ E&M’s다함께 차차차(Cha Cha Cha) made its debut in this list as the #2 grossing game. Continuing a trend we have seen for several months, the game leveraged the Kakao platform for distribution and viral growth in South Korea. As CJ E&M explained to App Annie, “There are two main reasons Cha Cha Cha has become a top 10 gaming app on Google Play, both in terms of monthly revenue (#2) and monthly downloads (#9). First, it’s a really exciting game to play. There are many racing games, but we distinguished our game with a car-crashing feature that really resonated with our audience. Second, we focused monetization efforts on users in their 30s-50s. These users are less sensitive to trends than younger users, so they retain better. This demographic is also willing to spend money on games that suit them.”
CJ E&M’s Cha Cha Cha game debuted at #2 in its first month
Actoz Soft’s 밀리언아서 (Million Arthur) was released December 20, 2012 and moved up 82 spots to take the #5 ranking in January 2013. The Korean version of the Japanese hit game published earlier by Square Enix (iOS, Google Play), it demonstrates the success that game makers can have with localization for the Korean market.
Million Arthur’s earlier success in Japan replicated in South Korea.
Over the past few months, this Top 10 list has been dominated by games from Japanese and South Korean publishers. This month, Candy Crush Saga had a 19-spot jump and stands out in that it is published by King.com, headquartered in the United Kingdom. The app has monetized well in Western markets, reaching the top-grossing position in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.
Top Games by Monthly Revenue Google Play January 2013
| Game | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Publisher | Headquarters | Subcategory | |
| 1 | Puzzle & Dragons | - | GungHo Online | Japan | Brain & Puzzle |
| 2 | 다함께 차차차 for Kakao | New | CJ E&M | South Korea | Casual |
| 3 | LINE POP | - | NHN | South Korea | Brain & Puzzle |
| 4 | Anipang for Kakao | - | SUNDAYTOZ | South Korea | Brain & Puzzle |
| 5 | 밀리언아서 | 82 | Actoz Soft | South Korea | Arcade & Action |
| 6 | DragonFlight for Kakao | 4 | NextFloor | South Korea | Arcade & Action |
| 7 | 暴走列伝 単車の虎 | - | Donuts | Japan | Casual |
| 8 | 아이러브커피 for Kakao | 3 | PATISTUDIO | South Korea | Casual |
| 9 | GREE | 3 | GREE | Japan | Casual |
| 10 | Candy Crush Saga | 19 | King.com | UK | Casual |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
iOS Top Non-Games by Monthly Downloads
Facebook Messenger jumped 21 spots to reach the #5 ranking, as the Social Networking chat app experienced strong growth across many countries. AppGratis was the other big mover in this category, leaping 45 spots to take the #9 rank. This French company recently received financing to fund global expansion and has been experiencing growth in many markets.
Top Non-Game Apps by Monthly Downloads iOS January 2013
| App | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Publisher | Headquarters | Category | |
| 1 | Google Maps | 1 | USA | Navigation | |
| 2 | YouTube | 1 | USA | Photo and Video | |
| 3 | Podcasts | - | Apple | USA | Entertainment |
| 4 | Find My iPhone | - | Apple | USA | Utilities |
| 5 | Facebook Messenger | 21 | USA | Social Networking | |
| 6 | Find My Friends | 1 | Apple | USA | Social Networking |
| 7 | iTunes U | 1 | Apple | USA | Education |
| 8 | Emoji & Unicode Icons | 5 | Jessie Tao | China | Business |
| 9 | AppGratis | 45 | iMediapp | France | Entertainment |
| 10 | iBooks | 2 | Apple | USA | Books |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
iOS Top Non-Games by Monthly Revenue
WhatsApp Messenger rejoined the Top 10 this month with an 8-spot increase to take the #5 position. The improved revenue performance followed the company’s return to its traditional iOS download price of $0.99 on January 3, 2013, after a holiday promotion where the app was free.
Quickoffice Pro HD took the #10 spot, moving up 9 spots. From December 2012 to January 2013, it moved up in the Overall Grossing Ranks while the app’s price increased from $7.99 to $19.99 on January 3, 2013.
Top Non-Game Apps By Monthly Revenue iOS January 2013
| App | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Publisher | Headquarters | Category | |
| 1 | LINE | - | NHN | South Korea | Social Networking |
| 2 | Pages | - | Apple | USA | Productivity |
| 3 | Pandora Radio | - | Pandora Media | USA | Music |
| 4 | Comics | - | comiXology | USA | Books |
| 5 | WhatsApp Messenger | 8 | USA | Social Networking | |
| 6 | Zoosk | 1 | Zoosk | USA | Social Networking |
| 7 | Badoo | 1 | Badoo Software | UK | Social Networking |
| 8 | Keynote | 1 | Apple | USA | Productivity |
| 9 | Numbers | 2 | Apple | USA | Productivity |
| 10 | Quickoffice Pro HD | 9 | Quickoffice | USA | Business |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
Google Play Top Non-Games by Monthly Downloads
This month’s rankings did not experience much change, with no new entrants in the Top 10.
Top Non-Game Apps by Monthly Downloads Google Play January 2013
| App | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Publisher | Headquarters | Category | |
| 1 | - | USA | Social | ||
| 2 | WhatsApp Messenger | - | USA | Communication | |
| 3 | Skype | - | Microsoft | USA | Communication |
| 4 | Facebook Messenger | - | USA | Communication | |
| 5 | - | USA | Social | ||
| 6 | 2 | USA | Social | ||
| 7 | Adobe Reader | - | Adobe Systems | USA | Productivity |
| 8 | Tiny Flashlight + LED | 1 | Nikolay Ananiev | Bulgaria | Tools |
| 9 | LINE | 3 | NHN | South Korea | Communication |
| 10 | Viber | - | Viber Media | Cyprus | Communication |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
Google Play Top Non-Games by Monthly Revenue
Kicking off the new year, the biggest mover in this month’s rankings was Health and Fitness app Noom Weight Loss Coach. KakaoTalk also had a large increase, jumping 30 spots to the #3 ranking. We also saw Trend Micro’s VirusBuster Mobile for Android enter the Top 10 as users continued to pay for security.
Top Non-Game Apps by Monthly Revenue Google Play January 2013
| App | Rank Change vs. Dec 2012 | Publisher | Headquarters | Category | |
| 1 | LINE | - | NHN | South Korea | Communication |
| 2 | SwiftKey 3 Keyboard | - | SwiftKey | UK | Productivity |
| 3 | KakaoTalk | 30 | kakao | South Korea | Communication |
| 4 | Comics | 2 | comiXology | USA | Comics |
| 5 | Noom Weight Loss... | 117 | Noom | USA | Health & Fitness |
| 6 | FoxFi Full Version Key | 3 | FoxFi Service | USA | Communication |
| 7 | DocumentsToGo Full | - | DataViz | USA | Business |
| 8 | OfficeSuite Pro 6 | 4 | MobiSystems | USA | Business |
| 9 | Poweramp Full Version | 4 | Max MP | USA | Music & Audio |
| 10 | VirusBuster Mobile | 4 | トレンドマイクロ... | Japan | Tools |
| SOURCE: App Annie Index ™ | |||||
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Footnotes:
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- All publishers listed above reflect parent publishers (e.g. the Instagram app is included under the parent publisher of Facebook).
- In the iOS App Store, an app is categorized under a main category as well as an optional second category. All category analysis in the App Annie Index has been conducted based on the app’s main category only. This approach prevents any overlap or duplication among categories, and therefore allows us to size the categories and analyze category share changes properly. It also allows us to identify the true category growth even if apps are increasingly added to secondary categories on a macro basis.
- Similarly, all Top 10 rankings above were calculated based on the app’s main category only. This allows us to identify which apps truly had an opportunity to contribute to category size and growth.
- In the iOS App Store, rankings within a category will include all apps that have that as the main category or the secondary category. This is different from the ranking and analysis approach used in the App Annie Index. As a result, you may see additional apps listed when you are using the iOS App Store rankings or when you are browsing through App Annie Store Stats rankings.
- In Google Play, an app can be categorized under only one category, so the above is not an issue.
- Any non-App Annie trademarks or images used in this report are the property of their respective owners. App Annie claims no rights in those trademarks.
