Distimo digs into data on free and paid apps, plus in-app purchases

Thinks developers should be looking beyond one-off download fees to make money.

Flurry isn't the only mobile analytics company releasing data on the mobile apps industry. Rival Distimo has published a presentation it gave at Verizon Wireless' recent developer conference, with plenty of interesting data.

For example, it explains that most app stores have a majority of paid apps, although the proportion of paid-to-free varies considerably. 81% of apps are paid on Verizon's V Cast Android app store, versus 76% on BlackBerry App World, 66% for iPad and 60% for iPhone on Apple's App Store, and 54% for Microsoft's Windows Phone Marketplace.

In fact, Android is the only store where free apps outnumber paid apps, and by some margin: only 38% of apps on Google's store are paid.

According to Distimo, for every 100 free app downloads on iPhone, only 8.7 paid apps are downloaded - a figure that's 11.8 on the V Cast store and 13.7 on iPad.

Meanwhile, Distimo claims that 4% of all iPhone apps use in-app purchases, yet 72% of iPhone app revenues comes from these apps: 48% from free-with-IAP apps and 24% from paid-with-IAP app. 28% of revenues come from paid-only apps. The company also points out that 68% of the top grossing Android Market apps are now using IAP.

In its presentation, Distimo advises developers and publishers to explore new ways of making money for this reason: in-app purchases and subscriptions, rather than a simple one-off download fee.

Those tips form part of its specific advice: "Don't overprice your app. Look at the prices of popular apps in your category. Seek for other ways of monetization than a one off fee. Explore the possibilities of a subscription model or in-app purchases for your app. Optimise your apps for tablets."