Apps On The Rise In The East

India and China have both seen the amount of app downloads surge in recent months. Both Google Play and Apple App Store have experienced such a rise in demand that it is reported that for the first time since its launch, China is the largest source of revenue for the iOS App Store. It is also reported that Google Play has seen 6 billion app downloads in China in the past 12 months, more than it has seen in the US, and is expected to see around 20 billion Indian downloads before 2020. In total, Apple and Google saw 35 billion US dollars of revenue generated from their app stores, a 40% increase over 2015. However, this success comes at the same time that it is being demanded by the government that all app stores with a Chinese presence immediately sign up to a register. The BBC's Dong Le says however that the move shows an acknowledgment of the danger of apps becoming “a major carrier of information” and “a challenge to China's internet police”.

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