Mobile Apps Reach Record Sales Amid Lockdowns

As people all over the world are locked down or under stay-at-home orders, the mobile app market is booming as people look for things to do and ways to stay connected.

According to data released by App Annie, mobile apps saw significant growth in Q1 2020, both in the time spent using them and the money being spent on them. The report found that “Google Play downloads grew 5% year over year to 22.5B, while iOS downloads grew 15% year over year to over 9B new downloads for the quarter. On Google Play non-gaming apps accounted for 55% of all downloads, while on iOS the figure was slightly higher at 65%.”

Similarly, when it comes to purchases, customers “spent over $23.4B through the app stores, the largest quarter ever in terms of consumer spend. There were also over 31B new app downloads, a 15% increase from Q4 2019.”

The report goes on to point out that there was a direct correlation between areas hit with the pandemic and surges in mobile app usage and purchases. The more countries required citizens to shelter-in-place, the more they turned to mobile apps.

The report, while not necessarily surprising or unexpected, is further evidence of the fundamental shift the computing industry has experienced toward mobile apps and services.