China has overtaken the United States in terms of Apple iOS app downloads.
According to App Annie, a mobile analytics company, China downloaded more iPhone applications than the U.S. in the first quarter of this year. It is the first time since App Annie began measuring downloads by country in 2010 that the U.S. was not on top.
The result was in line with the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus late last year that came with larger screens than previous models. Chinese consumers have long preferred large-screen smartphones.
“(In the fourth quarter of 2014), shipments of smartphones with screen sizes between five and seven inches constituted roughly 60 percent of total smartphone shipments in China as compared to roughly 40 percent worldwide and in the United States,” the report said. “Thanks to this, the iPhone’s share of the smartphone installed base crossed 7 percent in 2014.”
Games and photo or video apps drove most downloads, the report said.