Mobile commerce company MEF and mobile app analytics company Distimo jointly released a global app store trends report today. The report found that while mobile games only account for 36% of total downloads, they make up 71% of total revenue on the iOS platform and 89% of total revenue on Google Play.
The report also discovered that Apple's App Store accounts for 65% of the global mobile gaming revenue. Excluding application-based income, Google Play's share of global mobile gaming revenue has increased to 35%.
As expected, free-to-play games dominate gaming revenues, accounting for 86% of App Store game revenue and 94% of Google Play game revenue.
Paid download games contribute 7% and 4% of game revenue on App Store and Google Play respectively. Another 7% and 2% of revenue on both platforms come from in-app purchases (IAP) within paid download games.
Other entertainment apps account for only 8% of total downloads on the App Store and 2% of total revenue. Social networking apps account for 6% of downloads but only 3% of revenue.
Although paid games contribute a smaller proportion of total revenue compared to free-to-play games, this model is still a viable strategy for developers. According to Distimo's February 2013 report, iPhone paid apps see a 95% increase in revenue within the first three days of a price drop. For iPad apps, the revenue increase during the first three days of a price drop is 51%.