Japan Passes US as Top App Spender as Smartphone Use Rises

Japan surpassed the US as the top-grossing market for apps in October as smartphone use surged and wireless carriers started billing customers directly for downloads from Google’s online store.

App revenue in Japan more than tripled from a year earlier as the rising popularity of games including GungHo Online Entertainment’s “Puzzle & Dragons” helped Google Play close the gap with Apple’s store, defying the trend elsewhere, according to a Dec. 11 report by researcher App Annie. Downloads also increased after NTT Docomo, the country’s largest mobile-phone operator, started offering the iPhone in September. Japanese consumers are quickly adopting smartphones after previously lagging behind other markets, with 42 percent of the population using the devices in 2013 compared with 28 percent a year earlier. That proportion is expected to jump to 62 percent in 2014, outpacing the 50 percent penetration rate estimated for the U.S., App Annie said.