Apple Free vs Paid App Revenues, February 2013 [CHART]

Chart - Apple Free vs Paid App Revenues

In-app purchases accounted for a new high of 76% of revenue in the Apple App Store for iPhone in February 2013, up from 53% in January of last year, according to a new report from Distimo. Breaking that down further, the study shows that 71% of revenue came from in-app purchases from free apps, while in-app purchases from paid apps generated another 5% share.

Examining the top 250 grossing iPhone applications in February 2013 released since January 2012, the study reveals that average revenue per download is actually higher for the small amount of paid applications ($2.25) than for the free apps ($0.93). So it appears that the large share of revenues generated by in-app purchases from free apps owes itself more to quantity than monetization. In fact, of the 250 top grossing applications, just 27 were paid only. (That in itself is an indication of the power of the freemium model, though: the vast majority of top grossing apps are freemium rather than paid apps.) Read the rest at MarketingCharts.