Global app downloads and spending hit new highs in the first part of 2018, according to a report from app data analyst company App Annie.
Despite having previously broken records in the last part of 2017, the app market shows no sign of slowing down its exceptional growth, with downloads on iOS and Android increasing by 10 percent to 27.5 billion in comparisons with the same quarter in 2017. Spending in apps has also increased compared to the same period, with both iOS and Android spending having increased by 22 percent, resulting in a staggering $18.4 billion in revenue.
The download numbers in particular are impressive, since App Annie only includes new installs of apps in its data, and excludes re-installs, updates, or the same customer installing the same app on a new phone. To put that another way, users on Android and iOS have installed 27.5 billion new apps in the first three months of this year. There really must be an app for everything.
We see something similar when breaking down the $18.4 billion in revenue as well. App Annie only counts money made from paid apps, in-app purchases or in-app subscriptions on both the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store, and does not count revenue made through in-app advertising, third-party stores, or m-commerce (mobile commerce, including ridesharing and shopping) — so the actual revenue flowing through the app ecosphere must be much higher than the already high figures reported.
Gaming has been a key component of growth in both app stores, with battle royale games like Fortnite and PUBG Mobile being worthy of particular attention. App Annie also points to the increase in mobile shopping as another area of large growth, as retailers continue to migrate their shoppers to their apps.
In terms of individual marketplaces, the Google Play Store led the way in overall downloads, exceeding 19.2 billion. The iOS App Store isn’t backing down without a fight, though, and has narrowed the gap between itself and the Play Store by 10 percent, exceeding 8.2 billion downloads. However, iOS users are continuing to spend more in apps than their Android cousins, though that gap has lessened by ten percent, thanks to spending growth of 25 percent on the Google Play Store versus 20 percent on the iOS App Store.
Finally, the iOS App Store saw its largest growth in downloads in the U.S., Russia, and Turkey, while the Google Play Store saw significant growth in developing markets like India, Indonesia, and Brazil.
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