People spent 900 billion hours in apps in 2016.
The rise of apps has been remarkable … to the point that we are no longer surprised by how quite remarkable the stats around app usage have become.
A report by mobile analytics company App Annie said that app installs increased by 15% in the last 12 months, with more than 90 billion downloads spread over both major app stores. According to App Annie’s 2016 Retrospective report, the ongoing maturity of the mobile app marketplace meant that publishers were paid a cumulative $35 billion in revenue over both app stores—a 40% year-on-year rise from 2015.
The Google Play Store saw the majority of installs, but the App Store is still the cash cow—iOS app revenue increased by almost 50% in 2016. China was the main reason for maintaining the status quo between the app stores, accounting for almost 80% of iOS download growth and 50% of total revenue growth.
Although revenue is the first measure of success for publishers or developers, time spent in apps is just as vital. Total time spent in apps reached 900 billion hours in 2016, which equates to a year-on-year increase of 25%, App Annie said.
“2017 is set to be another banner year for the app ecosystem,” said Apps Annie. “As technology and business models continue to evolve, apps will play an even greater role in transforming, disrupting and creating opportunities for companies and industries both old and new.”
Source: App Annie, Retrospective 2016
Time Spent Is More Important Than App Installs
It is worth noting that App Annie’s time spent in apps data only includes Android owners (excluding China), but the figures cement a general consensus that people spend more time in apps.
A recent report by Flurry Analytics said time spent in all apps had risen by around 69%, although actual usage (as determined by sessions) only increased by 11%. The difference between the two reports comes down to what Flurry defines as “sessions”—the moment when an app is opened to the time it is closed—as opposed to App Annie’s “time spent” usage model which relies on increased engagement with an app over time.
“Usage is an increasingly important barometer for the app economy,” App Annie said. “Although downloads (i.e., new app installs) are important to consider, they do not tell the whole story. To understand the app economy, usage metrics are critical because they reflect how often and for how long users engage with apps. Total time spent is chief among these usage metrics.”
Source: App Annie, Retrospective 2016
Most people now use an average of 30 apps a month across a number of categories, with messaging and social apps still the most popular in terms of long-term app engagement, App Annie said.
Facebook is the most installed app over the two app stores. The next three apps—WhatsApp Messenger, Facebook Messenger, Instagram—are all Facebook-owned properties. Snapchat takes the final top five spot with Google sneaking into the top 10 thanks to YouTube.
To note, the Web went through a similar argument in its evolution. When websites began to grow and report massive amounts of page views, the industry later shifted to the question of time spent per page view. Today, advertisers tend to prize value websites where people spend a lot of time which increases the viewability metrics of their ads.
Will Games Ever Be Dethroned As The Kings Of Apps
Despite Facebook’s usage dominance, games are still the top category on both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
Around 75% of revenue on the App Store came from games, with the category contributing 90% of revenue to the Google Play Store. Japan continued to lead the way in terms of average revenue per user, with gamers spending more than $30 per month in their favorite—role-playing, predominantly—gaming apps. Chinese gamers were not far behind with an average spend of $25 per month.
Retail apps also had a successful 2016. The report said that mobile was responsible for 44% of retailer’s online traffic and 31% of sales in the last 12 months. Certain periods were busier than others, with time spent in apps during the first days of the holiday shopping season—Black Friday to Cyber Monday—showing year-on-year growth of 30%.
When it came to iOS apps, China was the supreme leader in 2016.
The country ranked number one for both global downloads and revenue. China surpassed the United States as the main driver of iOS revenue at the start of 2016 and maintained this position throughout the year. In fact, the $2 billion in publisher revenue generated by China in Q4 2016 was the largest for any country in App Store history, App Annie said.
On the Google side of the fence, India knocked the U.S. off its 2015 perch for downloads. Android devices are prevalent in emerging markets, many of which have not had long-term exposure to many of apps that developed markets take for granted. In terms of global revenue, Japan led the way due to its love of (wait for it) … games.
Future Of Augmented Reality Is Mobile Apps
To nobody’s surprise, Pokemon Go was the app hit of the year.
Other mobile games may have generated more revenue in 2016 than the augmented reality experience but they felt more like traditional games rather than a phenomenon. Pokemon Go generated $800 million in revenue within 110 days, before reaching $950 million by the end of 2016. To put this into perspective, the report said, this exceeds the global gross box office takings of the Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice movie.
“Pokémon GO’s success has done more to familiarize consumers with the concept of augmented reality than perhaps any other piece of software—or hardware, for that matter,” said the report. “Importantly for the app space, this familiarization did not take place in living rooms with special AR devices. Instead, it happened in the real world with mobile phones. If this is any indication, the future of AR is in mobile apps.”
No comments:
Post a Comment