Apple's App Store is seeing increasing popularity in Asia, although consumer preferences in the East appear to differ from other parts of the world, according to a new report from Distimo that looks at the App Store's performance in May.

According to the report, China is now the second largest market for the App Store. Download volumes in Asia increased in general; however, the portion of paid downloads and the overall revenue still lag behind that of the United States and Europe.

Distimo reports that total App Store revenue in Asia is about two-thirds of the revenues in the United States.

Asian markets were much less interested in in-app purchases, which Distimo notes in its report have become an important monetization method for developers over the last year. In China, only 34 percent of the revenue from the 200 top grossing applications originates from applications that feature in-app purchases.

In contrast, revenue from applications that feature in-app purchases in the United State has increased from 39 percent in June of 2010 to 68 percent in May of 2011.

Distimo Asia demands more localized content than do Europe and North America. In Asian countries, an average 34 percent of the most popular applications are only popular within any given region. In the United States and Europe, only 20 percent of the applications are aimed specifically at North America and Europe. In China, for example, 65 percent of the 300 most popular free applications are "regionally popular only."