Study of 9,644 Google Play apps finds free downloads dominate and games lead by volume

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A studio preparing a Google Play launch ran a data analysis on a 2018 snapshot of roughly 9,644 cleaned apps to guide its market choice. Free apps made up about 92% of the catalogue and nearly all downloads, while paid apps accounted for under 0.1% of downloads. Games were the largest category by total installs at about 17.9% of the total, followed by Communication and Tools. Estimated paid-download revenue was about $291 million, with a single game, Minecraft, responsible for roughly a quarter of it. Because install counts are lower bounds and revenue excludes ads and in-app purchases, the figures understate the true market.

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