Games driving iOS app growth in China: reportApr 20(AZINS) Mobile gaming in China has seen iOS spending more than double in the past year, while revenue from entertainment and music apps in both the US and China is "exploding," according to an analysis from App Annie.

On iOS, the US is still the biggest country in terms of app store spending, but an acceleration in Chin%se revenue has seen the world's most populous country arrive in second place, just ahead of Japan. That's according to the App Annie Index's Market Q1 2016 report, which files China's upward trend as its number one finding.

In-app purchases on mobile games drove the increase in growth "almost entirely," with four titles highlighted: Fantasy Westward Journey, Westward Journey Online, Hero Moba, and The Legend of Mir 2. And if the activity in Games is "a strong signal of trends to come," as App Annie says it is, then China could overtake the US for app spending in both Games and overall. That may not happen for a while, as US-based iOS owners are currently spending 30 percent more than their China equivalents thanks to non-gaming pursuits -- streaming video apps from the subscription-based Netflix, HBO and Hulu were highlighted.

Also as a result of interest in games, app downloads in Vietnam, Argentina and Egypt have been strong over the past year, but with each country demonstrating a different global trend. Going by a Google Play analysis, Vietnam has "a strong appetite for local game publishers," a similarity it shares with East Asia rather than Southeast Asia, App Annie said, while it was international games that contributed the most to Argentina's growth. Egypt, meanwhile, represented a combination of the two trends, with players "hungry for both Eastern and Western games and open to the newest and trendiest releases."

And staying with games, eSports is also set to affect mobile in the future, with App Annie identifying China as the country most likely to lead the way, building on strong interest in the core genres of action, strategy, adventure and role-playing games.