Apple’s iPhone and iPad App Stores generated $5.4m worth of combined revenues daily in January 2012, according to new research from telecoms analyst, CCS Insight, and app store analytics firm, Distimo.
The findings are the first fruits of a new research offering, App VU Global, developed by the two companies. App VU Global combines extensive data with analysis of the performance of software stores and the global apps market, identifying trends, and offering detailed comparisons across all major app stores.
The research reveals that Apple continues to dominate in terms of download numbers, catalogue size and revenues. The iPhone and iPad app stores generated daily revenues of $3.3m and $2.1m respectively in January 2012. Google Play (formerly Android Market) saw a 31 per cent rise in daily revenue in January 2012, to $679,000, across both smartphones and Tablets. Other platforms are racing to secure third position, with Amazon and Microsoft recording the biggest growth in catalogue size.
“The strong growth in downloads and revenue for Apple and Android comes at a time when consumers typically rein back their spending after Christmas”, notes Paolo Pescatore, director of applications and content at CCS Insight. 
A surge of in-app purchases was behind much of the growth. Buying extra levels or features within a game or application is rapidly becoming the principal form of spending in this area. In-app purchases accounted for more than 60 per cent of revenue across the iPad, iPhone and Google stores in January 2012. The revenue generated by applications that feature in-apps increased in February to 73 per cent for the top 200 highest-grossin Android and iPad applications, and to 79 per cent for the top 200 iPhone apps.
It’s not all good news, however. Preliminary figures for February show a 27 per cent drop in iPad downloads as consumers waited for the new iPad. This resulted in a $250,000 decrease compared with Januarys daily revenue figure. “We believe this is no more than a short-term blip, but it clearly shows that many buyers of the new iPad already own an original iPad or an iPad2. Its a real demonstration of the loyalty of Apple customers,” says Pescatore.
The App VU Global service comprises quarterly face-to-face presentations and supporting data in Excel format. Presentations provide specific implications and recommendations, and the service is complemented by bundled enquiry time with CCS Insight analysts, and factual, transactional app market data supplied by Distimo.
