Facebook owns four out of the five most downloaded apps worldwide

Facebook continues to storm the numbers as the company has claimed four out of the five spots for the most downloaded apps across the globe during the last quarter. Interestingly, Netflix still lords over everyone as far as revenue goes.

New research by app analytics firm Sensor Tower reveals that WhatsApp, Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and Snapchat were the most downloaded apps for the first three months of this year.

While the numbers differed across the App Store and Google Play, one thing both platforms shared is that Facebook owned four out of the top five spots for the most downloaded apps worldwide. While Messenger topped the App Store download charts, Facebook headed the race on Google Play.

But while Facebook dominated the app market when it came to downloads, video and audio streaming apps dominated the revenue charts.

Netflix became the highest grossing app for the first quarter of 2017, with Line, Tinder, Pandora and Spotify completing the rest of the top five.

To claim the number one spot, Netflix’s revenue grew a staggering 286 percent year-over-year – from $34.6 million to $133 million globally.

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To give you a broader perspective, app downloads worldwide grew from 11.9 billion to approximately 13.5 billion last year, marking a 14 percent increase over-year-year. While 4.7 billion of all downloads came from the App Store, Google Play accounted for the the remaining 8.8 billion.

As far as revenue goes, the app industry recorded a 63 percent YoY growth, grossing $2.19 billion this year in comparison to $1.34 billion for the first quarter of 2016. Curiously, a stunning $1.7 billion of all earnings came from the App Store, leaving Google Play in second place with $504 million.

Please note that the statistics refer solely to non-game apps. For more insights about the current state of the mobile gaming industry, head to this post.