Google Play Downloads Top Apple's App Store By 10%

Is Google GOOG the new king of mobile? Data continues to show that Apple AAPL can hold its own against Android. In some cases, the Mac maker has even come out on top. But a new report by App Annie (an analytics company that specializes in app store data for all mobile OS makers) shows that Google Play downloads have exceeded iOS App Store downloads by 10 percent. Apple still leads the pack for app revenue. iPhone downloads generated 2.3 times the revenue that Google Play generated during the second quarter. Related: Android, Windows Phone Tablets Rise 18% as Apple's iPad Declines This could be caused by iOS user preferences. They may be more likely than Android users to spend money on in-app items. It could also be due to how popular free apps are within the two platforms. If more Android users choose to download free apps than iOS users, that would also explain the revenue discrepancy. Overall, Android is a bit more popular than iOS. Apple has made some progress in the area of global market share (especially in nations not dominated by cheap smartphones), but a large number of consumers -- including game players -- say they prefer Android. While Google and Apple came to the smartphone market around the same time, it has taken the search engine giant several years to build a popular television device. After Google TV -- a joint venture between Google, Logitech LOGI, Intel INTC and Sony SNE -- failed to catch on, Google went back to the drawing board. The company came back with a $35 memory stick-sized device that can plug into any HDMI port. According to 9to5Google, Chromecast will soon feature an app that allows users to take photos and film video and stream them to a TV. The upcoming feature is demonstrated in this YouTube clip by Koushik Dutta, who also developed the app: Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ