In app purchases have a few artificial things going for them that help explain this number: * In app purchases are more secure against piracy which is rampant

In app purchases have a few artificial things going for them that help explain this number: * In app purchases are more secure against piracy which is rampant for paid games * In the app store, paid apps are listed in the paid section but free + in app are listed in the free section, giving you higher visibility if you make it free + in app. * The app store's incredibly primitive pricing model for paid apps, missing features such as time trials, upgrade pricing, tiering, subscription pricing etc. which can be somewhat patched with in app purchase in a clunky way.