31/08/2017
Research Shows Consumer Reluctance to Try New Apps
Research has shown that the use of apps is still on the increase amongst consumers in the US. However, is also shows that they have a reluctance to try out new apps – if they discover them in the first place.
The findings of the research by comScore was released last week and showed that a significant share of mobile app users' time gets dedicated to apps dealing with social media like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat; watching all sorts of videos on YouTube; or listening to their favourite music on popular apps like Pandora or Spotify,” according to the Andrew Lipsman who is the SVP for Marketing and Insights at comScore Company.
He also commented, however, that the new app categories have been facing a real difficulty breaking through. It is a direct consequence of the fact that there are not many users who are downloading apps that belong to new categories.
New Apps
Analysis of the data made today – 1st September 2017 shows that the majority of smartphone users don`t download new apps each month, but when they are, they are discovered through app stores, word of mouth and advertising. It isn`t surprising to note that the most regular app-downloaders are Millennials.
Most Popular
The research shows that smartphone users spend at least 96% of the time spent on their device on their top 10 apps, and their favourite app accounts for half of the time that they spend.
The study revealed that the top 10 apps for US consumers were dominated by Google and Facebook:
1. Gmail
2. Facebook
3. YouTube (owned by Google)
4. Snapchat
5. Facebook Messenger
6. Pandora
7. Google Search
8. Google Play
9. Google Maps
10. Instagram (owned by Facebook)
Lipsman noted that for those who are looking to get into the app market, the main challenge is to offer something really innovative and out of the box, as the market became really competitive.
In explaining the slow rise in the uptake of new apps, research John Jackson who is the VP of IDC for Mobile and Connected Platforms noticed that the smartphones became widely available and used quite some time ago, in every single market, and that the users got the chance to shop for anything using them.
But he does seem positive about the future of apps, as there is still a general trend showing good growth of app use. Part of the problem is about apps not being seen by consumers – something which the Android Instant Apps tool is set to help – by giving users a chance to check out an app before downloading it.
Whilst app use is not on the decline, there does seem to be a challenge for app designers to compete with Google and Facebook for the attention of users, and unless they are prepared to be incorporated by one of these two, more effort will need to be made to get themselves seen.