iPad, iPhone app revenue overwhelms Android app revenue

Demand for apps on mobile devices continues to be strong, according to new findings from CCS Insights and Distimo. Their numbers indicate that the iPhone App Store generated daily revenue of $3.34 million, while the iPad generated $2.04 million daily in app sales (counting only the 200 highest-grossing apps). Android app revenue grew 31% in January, but the total only reached $679,000 per day (combined for phones and tablets), or less than 13% of the total iOS app revenue.

The majority of the revenue comes from in-app purchases, constituting more than 60% of the revenues across iOS and Android platforms combined in January. February saw that percentage climb to 73%; it was 79% if you only counted iPhone apps. Clearly, in-app purchasing has become the winner in mobile apps, and it continues to gain over other monetization methods.

February did show a drop of 27% in iPad app revenues, which the analysts say is probably due entirely to anticipation of the new iPad which shipped in March. This also shows that many of the new iPad buyers were current iPad owners getting the latest hardware.

These figures continue to show why mobile developers tend to focus first on iOS rather than Android; it's where the money is. However, other data shows that Amazon's version of the Android Market brings in about 89% of what Apple's App Store does per active user. There's still plenty of upside potential for Android app sales, if Google can improve their store.