BRIC countries are becoming increasingly significant markets for Google Play and Apple’s App Store, according the latest findings by analyst firm App Annie.

Brazil, Russia, India and China saw strong performances during the third quarter of the year, with Apple’s App Store seeing strong performances in China and Russia, and Google Play making progress in Brazil and Argentina.

Overall, Google Play had 25 per cent more downloads than the App Store in the third quarter, compared to a 10 per cent lead in the prior quarter. The increased difference has been largely driven by Brazil and Argentina, according to App Annie.

Brazil climbed to fourth position for the total number of downloads in Google Play, behind the US, South Korea and India. Games led the way in terms of the most significant categories in Brazil, while the Communications and the Media & Audio categories also contributed to the country’s improved download ranking.

Brazil is becoming a more significant mobile market with IDC predicting smartphone shipments will increase by more than 125 per cent between 2013 and 2017, compared to an average increase globally of 65 per cent. In addition, there has been network investment in the country.

As well as extending its download lead Google Play continued to catch the App Store in terms of revenue. The App Store generated 2.1 times the revenue of Google Play in the third quarter, compared with 2.3 times in the second quarter.

China became the third biggest market for the App Store in terms of revenue, climbing two spots compared to the previous quarter. Together, the US, Japan and China accounted for half of App Store revenue. The same three also topped download rankings.

China’s growing influence on app stores has been driven by increasing 3G usage and is likely to increase further as LTE networks expand and Apple places a greater emphasis on the world largest mobile market.