With smartphone users and companies rising with time, the usage expansion of the app market is gradually becoming obvious. To some people, app stores are limited to Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
While these may seem like the largest app stores currently in the world, there are several other thriving app stores contributing to the app economy.
China is the largest online community, and according to Statista, one-fifth of the world’s internet users are Chinese. This is owing to the fact that over 850 million Chinese are smartphone users!
In China, the Google Play Store is finding it hard to gain penetration into its app economy – as it has been officially blocked from the country.
That said, it’s good to know that smartphones produced in China usually come with a pre-installed app store. However, there are lots of independent app stores out there and they’re expanding the competition!
The Tencent Appstore
The most successful and largest independent app store in China is the Tencent Appstore. It is vital to know that unlike some of its counterparts, Tencent does not produce smartphones.
Tencent is famous for creating China’s most used social media apps – WeChat and QQ (an instant messaging app). Tencent also has an open platform through which app developers can garner a large number of users, which includes Tencent Appstore, Qzone, QQ games, and Tencent QQ.
Tencent is home to tons of apps, from games, lifestyle, shopping, education, social media, entertainment, and many more.
Sprout Of Developers And Global Reach
The Tencent Appstore is not just the most popular app store in China, it is also the largest independent app store in the world!
According to 42matters, Tencent has over 56,000 app publishers who publish their apps on their app store platform. This is because the platform exposes their apps to hundreds of millions of users.
Tencent’s App Distribution
Tencent, as a company, is the world’s largest mobile gaming company. They are also one of the world’s most prominent social media companies. The app store has over 90,000 apps for download, which are available for Android, iOS, Symbian, and Windows devices.
Categorically, apps on Tencent are divided into twenty-two categories, their gaming category being the biggest.
The best thing about Tencent is that 100% of the apps are free to download. This implies that app publishers generate income or monetize their apps through in-app purchases and in-app ads.
App Ratings
App rating is an essential part of the app economy. Ratings from users enable publishers to know the glitches in their apps, as well as inform other prospective users about the quality of such apps.
As of recent, 56% of the apps on in Tencent Appstore have been rated, while the remaining 44% are yet to be rated.
App Popularity
Tencent Appstore gives app developers easy access to millions of users, being great competition to other app stores in China and beyond.
WeChat remains to be the most popular app in Tencent and in China as a whole. That’s because WeChat is not just a social medium, but a platform that supports businesses and eCommerce. The most popular game in the app store is PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).
In conclusion…
Lots of western app developers are mobilizing their apps into the Tencent Appstore. This is because the app store offers a free an accessible solution to upload apps and easy access to monitor their growth.
Considering the fact that China has the highest number of smartphone users —and that smartphone companies have made their mobile devices support the app store— the impact of Tencent Appstore will only continue to grow!
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