Distimo said the new Christmas tradition of a global spike in app downloads and revenue continued, with downloads from Apple’s App Store increasing by 53 per cent and revenue by 56 per cent compared with the December 2013 average.

But the company noted that while impressive, the figures are lower than for previous years. For example, in 2011 there was a threefold growth in download volume compared to the December average, while in 2012 download volume doubled.

Distimo also noted that contrary to in 2012, the rate of increase in revenue was greater than download numbers. The growth in revenue from one-off fees was stronger than the growth of revenue from in-app purchases.

Unsurprisingly, it was observed that the main contributors to this year’s spike were Western countries, for example with download volume in the UK increasing by 161 per cent on Christmas Day, and revenue in the US almost doubling.

“In the large Asian app markets like Japan and Korea this trend was hardly visible,” Distimo said.

The company also noted that some publishers planned the release of new apps just before Christmas in order to optimise their success.

This included Rovio’s Angry Birds Go and ZeptoLab’s Cut the Rope 2.

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