Anticipation for iPhone 5 impacts Download Volumes and
Loyal Usage in August
The Fiksu
App Store Competitive Index that measures the average aggregate
daily download volume of the Top 200 free U.S. iPhone apps decreased by almost
five percent from 4.25 million downloads in July to 4.06 million in August.
“The root of the changes in this month’s Indexes can
likely be explained by eagerness for the new iPhone 5,” said Micah Adler, CEO, Fiksu.
“Our data shows that fewer apps were downloaded and
subsequently used in August, suggesting that existing iPhone users are sitting
tight and waiting for the new device. This caused the overall volume of
downloads to decline and disproportionately impacted app marketing costs,”
Adler added.
Fiksu, a mobile app user acquisition platform, reported
that anticipation for the iPhone 5 impacted the Fiksu Indexes for August 2011,
causing a 28.3 percent jump in mobile app marketing costs.
The Fiksu Indexes which measure monthly fluctuations in
competition for rank in the app stores, and the cost to acquire loyal users,
help mobile app marketers benchmark their performance against industry
averages.
The Fiksu
Cost per Loyal User Index increased by 34 cents
from $1.20 in July to $1.54
in August. Fiksu’s research also recorded a 30 percent decline in organic
iPhone app downloads during August, a key factor driving the increase in costs
to acquire loyal app users.
“The app stores are constantly moving targets which
present mobile app marketers with an ever-changing set of competitive pressures
and budgetary decisions,” said Josh Martin,
director of apps research, Strategy Analytics.
“The Fiksu Indexes provide marketers with a
macroview of this competitive landscape accounting for major market events such
as the banning of incentivized downloads and anticipation of iPhone 5 –
valuable insight in an increasingly fractured market,” Martin added.
Data for the Fiksu Indexes was sourced from 3.7 billion
mobile app actions – such as app launches, registrations and in-app purchases –
recorded by apps marketed via the Fiksu
for Mobile Apps user acquisition platform.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com