Distimo said that iPhone sales figures for the US market released as part of Apple’s patent dispute with Samsung “do not reflect the current distribution of worldwide iPhone sales”. With this in mind, it advises developers “it is worth focusing on other markets as well and not missing new opportunities in, for example, Asia”.

According to the Apple figures cited by Distimo, around 40 percent of all iPhone sales have taken place in the US, accounting for 86 million of the 218 million sold since its introduction in 2007. However, based on its view of the App Store, some 26 percent of free app downloads come from the US, which “clearly indicates that Apple’s market share in the US is now lower than the historical trail data suggests”.

While the US is still the largest market in terms of daily downloads, others are catching up, with China now ranked second and generating 15 percent of the download total.

In terms of paid downloads, the US is the largest market with 40 percent of the daily total, followed by the UK.

“Localisation, like translating your application, is proven to be of utmost importance for developers to become successful in many emerging countries”, the analytics firm concluded.