Mobile apps available in languages such as Japanese, French and German are more likely to rack up downloads in their respective markets, according to a new study from ABI Research – presenting an advantage for locally developed titles.

The study found that over 80 percent of the top iOS apps in Apple’s stores in Japan, Germany, and France are in local languages. The highest proportion was found in the Japanese App Store (87 percent), followed by Germany (83 percent) and France (82 percent).

In China, Chinese-speaking apps accounted for 76 percent of the highest-ranked apps, with about half of them developed specifically for the local market.

“Our findings confirm that apps that fit into the local culture, or at least speak the audience’s native language, see a measurable boost in their download rankings,” said ABI senior analyst Aapo Markkanen.

“This means two things. First, domestic developer communities will always have a certain edge in winning over the consumers’ hearts and minds. Second, larger developer houses with global ambitions risk seeing their expensive releases go unnoticed if they don’t localise the content properly.”