Android Market: What sells?

Today I'm taking a statistical look at the Android Market to find out what is selling.

I'm sure we all have some ideas for market applications, but what are people actually buying?

The market interface does not let you sort by arbitrary criteria such as the number of installs. To compile these statistics, I've used the following procedure:

I've analysed the first 125 applications under 'Top Paid Applications':
Apps -> Applications -> Top Paid

Again the criteria is somewhat obscure because the formula that Google uses for presenting top paid applications is not known. But it will undoubtedly be some combination total installs, install trend, user rating and other factors.

The Market does not give an exact number for installs. It instead gives ranges such as:

• 500K to 1 million
• 100K to 500K
• 50K to 100K
• ...

For purpose of this analysis, I'm only looking at applications that meet the following criteria:

• They are listed in the first 125 entries under "Top Paid Applications"
• Over 500K installs
• 100K to 500K installs
• Applications with less installs are ignored
• Games are ignored

Finally it is important to note that the statistics completely ignore games. Games are far and away the top selling applications on the market. However, I'm more interested to see what non-gaming applications people are purchasing.

The over 500K Install club: 

Beautiful Widgets:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.levelup.beautifulwidgets&feature=top-paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDIwNiwiY29tLmxldmVsdXAuYmVhdXRpZnVsd2lkZ2V0cyJd

SwiftKey:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.touchtype.swiftkey&feature=top-paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIwNiwiY29tLnRvdWNodHlwZS5zd2lmdGtleSJd

PowerAmp:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.maxmpz.audioplayer.unlock&feature=top-paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIwNiwiY29tLm1heG1wei5hdWRpb3BsYXllci51bmxvY2siXQ..

Camera Zoom FX:
https://market.android.com/details?id=slide.cameraZoom&feature=top-paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIwNiwic2xpZGUuY2FtZXJhWm9vbSJd

Paper Camera:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dama.papercamera&feature=top-paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIwNiwiY29tLmRhbWEucGFwZXJjYW1lcmEiXQ..

SoundHoud:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.melodis.midomiMusicIdentifier&feature=top-paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIwNiwiY29tLm1lbG9kaXMubWlkb21pTXVzaWNJZGVudGlmaWVyIl0.

ADWLauncher EX:
https://market.android.com/details?id=org.adwfreak.launcher&feature=top-paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIwNiwib3JnLmFkd2ZyZWFrLmxhdW5jaGVyIl0.

Shazam Encore:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.shazam.encore.android&feature=apps_topselling_paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLG51bGwsImNvbS5zaGF6YW0uZW5jb3JlLmFuZHJvaWQiXQ..

Documents ToGo:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dataviz.docstogoapp&feature=apps_topselling_paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLG51bGwsImNvbS5kYXRhdml6LmRvY3N0b2dvYXBwIl0.

Talking Tom Cat:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.outfit7.talkingtompro&feature=apps_topselling_paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLG51bGwsImNvbS5vdXRmaXQ3LnRhbGtpbmd0b21wcm8iXQ..

Some Trends:

Talking Heads:

Talking Tom Cat:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.outfit7.talkingtompro&feature=apps_topselling_paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLG51bGwsImNvbS5vdXRmaXQ3LnRhbGtpbmd0b21wcm8iXQ..

Talking Ben the Dog:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.outfit7.talkingbenpro&feature=apps_topselling_paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLG51bGwsImNvbS5vdXRmaXQ3LnRhbGtpbmdiZW5wcm8iXQ..

Talking Rex the Dinosaur:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.outfit7.talkingrex&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLm91dGZpdDcudGFsa2luZ3JleCJd

Typically, these are applications that repeat things via an animated character or have some limited capacity to converse with the user.

Augmented Reality:

These are application that apply effects and filters to your photos. For example,  a photo may be augmented to appear like a comic strip or things may be added to the photo such as fictional characters.

Camera Zoom FX:
https://market.android.com/details?id=slide.cameraZoom&feature=top-paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIwNiwic2xpZGUuY2FtZXJhWm9vbSJd

Live Wallpaper:

Wallpapers are selling quite well albeit they are generally only priced around the $1 mark.

https://market.android.com/details?id=fishnoodle.aquarium&feature=apps_topselling_paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLG51bGwsImZpc2hub29kbGUuYXF1YXJpdW0iXQ..

System Utilities:

Thankfully people are still interested in useful applications as well :) These are applications like:  ROM, battery and CPU management, File Explorers and Anti-Virus amongst others.

Root Explorer:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.speedsoftware.rootexplorer&feature=apps_topselling_paid#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLG51bGwsImNvbS5zcGVlZHNvZnR3YXJlLnJvb3RleHBsb3JlciJd

Finally, these graphs only looking at what sells in volume. Obviously, the price point of an application is important. But I was merely curious about what is popular regardless of the purchase price.

Glen Cook
Consultant @ eWhiz Mobile