Mobile App Growth Isn't Slowing Down

The Apple App Store and Google Play Store continue to set records in growth of downloads and revenue. It’s not too late to jump in to the mobile marketplace.

Q1 2018 Sets Downloads Record

According to the latest statistics from App Annie global mobile app downloads grew by 10% year over year in the first quarter of 2018. This growth lead to a total of 27.5 Billion app downloads, the highest figure of any quarter in history. In addition to the download increase mobile app revenue also grew by 22% over the first quarter last year, for a total of $18.4 Billion.

Mobile game were a large driver of this growth, as usual, but there was also large growth in mobile shopping apps over the last quarter. Retail business has started to go all in on mobile shopping experiences to help in their battle against e-commerce competitors and this has lead to a raft of new app launches and successful updates. Restaurants are also growing their mobile app business as they begin to embrace the benefits of having a mobile connection to their customers.

Improved Stores Driving Growth

One reason for the large growth in iOS downloads over the last quarter is the App Store redesign that Apple introduced with iOS 11 in September. Recent data from Sensor Tower shows that the redesign has improved discoverability on the App Store and increased the number of apps that are found by users browsing the store.

Another aspect of the store redesign that has made a big impact in app downloads are the many new featured selections and the daily updates to the Apps and Games tabs. While the top of store features can increase downloads by up to 800% even the smaller feature spots can drive significant download increases of 100% - 200% or more. While you can’t base your marketing strategy on getting featured it is clear that the added visibility Apple has introduced with the App Store redesign is a benefit to app publishers large and small.

Apple shows us the money

With this large increase in downloads over the last quarter we would also expect an increase in app store revenue, and that is exactly what we’re seeing. Apple recently revealed that iOS developers earned $26.5 Billion in 2017 which is a 30% increase in earnings over 2016. That growth has helped Apple reach the milestone of over $100 Billion paid out to developers since the introduction of the App Store, and there is no end in sight.

The continued growth of the mobile marketplace makes it the perfect time to expand your business with mobile apps. Every business will be impacted by mobile in the years to come and the sooner you can stake your claim the better positioned you will be to reap the rewards.

---

Mobile is the First Screen

Are you focusing your effort accordingly?

App Annie has published some information gleaned from their analytics product that shows how Mobile continues to grow and leapfrog other platforms as the go-to for today's consumer.

In their insight article App Annie presents data that shows how users are turning to mobile for more and more of their needs.

First we see that app usage in aggregate continues to grow. So much so that in the last two years time spent in apps worldwide has doubled.

In addition to overall usage we also see that individual interaction time with apps is increasing as well. This shows that mobile apps are not only used in micro-bursts and on-the-go moments. Mobile is becoming, or has already become, the de-facto platform where users shop, communicate, play, and learn. It is also interesting to note that, according to Google, more searches now happen on Mobile than on traditional computers. No matter what industry you are in, or what message you are trying to convey to your customers, you need to have a mobile strategy to effectively address them.

Apps drive Purchases

The primary interface for mobile is the app. Having your website available for mobile browsers is simply not enough. In the first quarter of 2016 over 90% of mobile users time was spent in apps and only 10% of that was in a mobile browser.

Consumers have made the decision to go mobile. Mobile apps drive engagement, loyalty, and provide direct communication with your customers. Even looking beyond today, the next generation of customers have grown up mobile first which means these trends will only increase in the future. What is your mobile strategy?

---

Ten Years On and the iPhone Announcement is Still Incredible

I've been watching some old Steve Jobs keynotes and Interviews over the last few days and it is amazing how many little insights about technology can be gained for it. Looking back on some of the cryptic responses to questions with the benefit of hindsight allows you to put the pieces together and understand how great Steve was at communicating with his customers and the media, even when if it seemed like he wasn't saying much at all. For my money, the keynote reveals of the iPhone and iPad are two of the most incredible product announcements of all time. The iPhone announcement has to take the cake though and even now, more than 10 years later, it is dazzling to watch. So, take a walk with me down memory lane and watch one of the 'crazy ones' put a dent in the universe.

---