App Annie: Mobile app downloads grew 10% year over year to 25 billion for the quarter on Google Play. Non-gaming apps accounted for 55% of all downloads. India and Brazil were the 2 largest markets by downloads in Q2 2020.
App Annie: Detailed report
App Annie released its latest report on mobile app usage and the future looks so bright for the industry. Q2 2020 was the most important quarter yet for mobile apps usage, downloads and consumer spending. Consumer spend on iOS grew 15% year over year to $17 billion in Q2 2020, and 25% year over year on Google Play to $10 billion. Non-gaming apps accounted for 35% of consumer spending on iOS and 15% on Google Play, largely contributed by in-app subscriptions. Consumers have spent a record $27 billion on apps in Q2 2020
2020 is a year of reckoning for mobile apps overall which includes record levels of apps being downloaded and increased consumer spending across the app stores as people are increasingly turning to mobile as a primary source of connection and entertainment. As per the latest report and research from App Annie, the time spent in apps in India grew 35% in Q2 2020 from Q4 2019. Italy, Indonesia, and the United States have all had 30%, 25% and 15% growth respectively.
On Google Play, mobile app downloads grew 10% year over year to 25 billion for the quarter. Non-gaming apps accounted for 55% of all downloads. India and Brazil were the 2 largest markets by downloads in Q2 2020. In terms of growth, India, Brazil and Indonesia were the most important drivers from Q1 2020 and the US, Japan, and South Korea were the three largest markets, with the US and Japan driving the most important growth in consumer spend from Q1 2020.
At the category level, Games, Tools and Entertainment were the most important by downloads. While the Games category was the most important driver of download growth quarter over quarter on Google Play, changing consumer behaviours are translating to strong growth in other categories — mobile categories that are disrupting traditional businesses. Health & Fitness, Business and Education have all seen strong quarter-over-quarter growth in downloads of 115%, 75% and 50% respectively.
On Google Play, Games, Social and Entertainment were the most important categories by consumer spending.
The Games, Entertainment and Social categories also saw the strongest year-over-year growth in consumer spend. Growth within the Entertainment category was driven largely by Disney+ and Twitch. After a successful launch in Europe and Japan, Disney+ saw continued growth in consumer spend, because the ongoing pandemic quarantines have accelerated growth within the video streaming market. Video streaming services also innovated quickly to spice up engagement amidst COVID-19.
Amazon Prime Video and Hulu began to include more social elements into their core offerings by rolling out built-in support for co-viewing and chat functionality — allowing viewers to watch and connect together in real-time. Originally popular among gamers, during the pandemic musicians also turned to measure streaming platforms like Twitch to tap on the monetization potential from premium subscriptions and virtual gifting.
On iOS, downloads grew 20% year over year to just about 10 billion new downloads and Non-gaming apps accounted for 70% of downloads. The US and China were the 2 largest markets by downloads, while the US and Saudi Arabia were the most drivers of download growth quarter over quarter. In Saudi Arabia, peak downloads are often observed during the third quarter of the year which coincides with the school term holidays, which can extend between 45 to 60 days. With nation-wide lockdown, app downloads in Saudi Arabia reached a monthly all-time high during the month of April 2020, up 100% year over year, on iOS.
India’s Aarogya Setu app, to attach essential health services with the people of India to fight against COVID-19, was the second most downloaded app in India in Q2 2020 on iOS App Store and Google Play combined. COVID-tracing apps, in other countries, such as COVID-19 Contact App in Japan, Corona-Warn-App in Germany, StopCovid France in France, Immuni App in Italy, COVIDSafe in Australia, and TraceTogether in Singapore have all reached rank #1 within their respective app store categories, in either Medical or Health and Fitness, by daily iPhone downloads every day since it was launched as of June 23, 2020.
The US and China were the top contributors to consumer spend on iOS in Q2 2020, while the US and Japan were the top drivers of quarter-over-quarter growth. Entertainment, Games, Photo and Video were the three largest categories by consumer spending.
With consumer spend up by 25% from Q1 2020, photo and video have seen strong quarter-over-quarter growth. TikTok’s continued rise in 2020 is a key driver of this, becoming the #1 top-grossing app on iOS App Store globally in Q2 2020. Achieved largely through sales of virtual gifts used for tipping streamers. Users can increase their chance of getting a shout-out out of the popularity they earned through tipping, creating a regeneration loop which further encourages creativity and spending. The Business category was the most important driver of overall download growth, led by video conferencing apps. Shopping, Health and Fitness, and Medical apps all had strong quarter-over-quarter growth of 30%, 25% and 20%.
App usage is up by a whopping 40% year-over-year in Q2 and the time spent in using the apps reached the all-time high of 200 billion hours during April, making Q2, 2020 the biggest yet for both app use, downloads, and consumer spending.
