The digital world has become the solace in a time of pandemic like Coronavirus. We all are in the state of lockdown to stay in the state of quarantine and ensure that this pandemic can be controlled to some level. As a result, we are working from home, studying from home, watching movies, spending time […]
Updated 7 February 2024
CEO at Appventurez
The digital world has become the solace in a time of pandemic like Coronavirus. We all are in the state of lockdown to stay in the state of quarantine and ensure that this pandemic can be controlled to some level.
As a result, we are working from home, studying from home, watching movies, spending time with family, and so on. In short, we are becoming more dependent on digital technologies to keep us entertained. Here is the brief impact of COVID-19 on mobile apps economy.
However, not every business or mobile app is having a gala time. Some are thriving at a remarkable rate whereas others are going on the declining scale. The rapid shift in mobile apps has affected the market on a whole new level.
The digital shift is making leading mobile app development company and developers go for picking up the picks-and-axes for businesses and consumers alike.
The apps that such as Zoom, Netflix, Prime Video are expected to cross the user’s count by 7 billion by the end of 2021. By 2022, the total downloads of mobile apps annually are said to reach 258 billion.
However, we can only hope that with the COVID19 pandemic, lockdown, and upheaval situations, the mobile apps developers will be able to shield the market due to its ever-growing demand.
Even in this situation, there is no denying that the economic downturn is coming irrespective of the sudden increase in demand for mobile apps. The mobile app developers are going to face this tough reality as cold water very soon.
Before moving forward, let us give you an insight into the COVID-19 situation
There is always something good and bad in every situation. However, this pandemic has a lot of bad and minimum of good since it has a huge effect on the lives of the population.
Let us start with the bad news for the mobile app industry that we have to witness in the coming years (we have no other alternative to avoid it).
From 2010, the mainstream emergence of the mobile app industry, no one has witnessed this sudden downturn. The advertising and IAP (In-App purchases) have become the major source of revenue for mobile app developers. However, a sudden decrease will slowly catch up with the revenue stream and very soon.
As a matter of fact, the downtimes have made consumers be very careful about the money they are spending. Even in the time of recessions, advertisements are not generally considered the topnotch priority.
In 2008, there was a huge market crash that managed to decrease the total advertisement amount by 13%. As per market research, economic growth has a lot of effect on the advertising sector after some time (presumably quarters).
As a result, lower user values are created due to the safe play game of consumers. The users play safe financially when they are going through the economic crisis on a global level.
This will tighten up the budget that directly affects the mobile app developers. Even in the present situation, it is easier to see the decrease in the total rates and less revenue caused by budgeting and shrinking.
The lowering of the price is parallel in case of any changes in the economy that increases the competition and decreases advertising. The customer usage of the mobile app has a huge impact on the app developers.
The traffic, entertainment, work from home, and whatnot are counted in the usage factor in the present time. This quarantine period has increased messaging, video calls, games, video streaming, etc. are soaring in the market.
However, these are just the temporary effects of the crisis and are slowly taking the mobile app development industry to a bad level. Once the quarantine ends, people will slowly start to get back to their lives that will result in the decline of traffic.
As a result, this will add up to the advertising speed low rates that will have a direct effect on the revenues.
However, there is some good news that we can definitely consider for mobile app developers.
There is a silver lining amid the coronavirus pandemic in the present situation. The economy is going down but once the market bounces back, the investors will gain a lot of profit.
The mobile app industry has more than 5 million apps that make it a crowded yet competitive world. However, it is growing at a rapid rate with $188 billion of total revenue. In the future, the innovative minds of mobile app developers will leave us stunned with stunning results.
If you know the right thing to hit then the small developers and business owners can gain from it. The developers can easily target the audience and retain them during these crises.
The future of the traffic can be easily attained. That was just a dream till last year. However, you need to take the step fastly to avoid any acquisition targets. This increases the chance of getting partnership, lifelines, outside funding, etc.
The mobile app developers are also playing safe in the mobile app industry and are mainly focusing upon maintaining the app instead of new projects, thin ranks, slow growth, etc.
On the other hand, a new project will have minimum competition in the market due to the lower crowd rate and ample opportunity.
iOS and Android apps are increasing for the past decade at a remarkable rate. However, with the decrease of the revenue drop, there has been a sudden downfall in the projects, competitors’ folds, and venture capital.
However, the market will slowly pick up and the talented people will come up for jobs that were unavailable and expensive. The mobile app developers will be more than happy to work on an organization instead of going freelance or startup.
Since this is out of the way, let us get an intake on the app categories to see their individual effect due to COVID19.
Since the basics are out in front of everyone. It is essential to understand the individual effects that mobile app categories are facing due to the COVID-19.
Due to the quarantine and lockdown period, companies, schools, and institutes have shifted to the work from home criteria. The business apps were downloaded at a speedy rate to work and maintain social distancing.
Business apps popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic in the last month is shown below:
Even the surge of education apps has gone a notch higher in the market. With online education gaining popularity, the teachers and students are depending upon it. Here is the popular choice for the education apps during the COVID-19 critical situation.
In both situations, Zoom is the most common form of communication app used for meetings. The Zoom download over the past month has gone a notch higher as compared to others in the market.
The work from home has made the population dependent upon the entertainment sector. As a result, the games are certainly gaining popularity with time. As per the data shown below, you will get a better track of its total downloads during the quarantine period.
The average download on a weekly basis for the iOS and Android platforms for gaming apps increases by around 80% that is 25% more than that of January. Since more and more people are getting affected by the Coronavirus, the more people are going for self-quarantine period and lockdown.
Living indoors is making people go for the mode of entertainment that will gradually increase the download of gaming apps in the market. Even in the coming months, the total download numbers of gaming apps are said to increase by 60%.
Along with games, people also spent more time on social media and entertainment apps to keep themselves entertained. Be it video streaming, music streaming, or social media, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, people are spending their majority of time on these apps.
These apps include popular apps such as Amazon Prime Video, TikTok, Airtel X Stream, Hulu, MX Player, etc. The number is sticking at a speedy rate that is affecting the ranking of the apps. This is proof of the go-to-streaming app’s popularity in the market due to its remarkable content.
The total popularity of the entertainment apps in the market as of now is shown below:
The Coronavirus outbreak and social distancing has limited the cab and ride services. It is affecting the total popularity of the ridesharing apps. The downloads of the cab-booking apps are going down at an alarming rate and we can’t go for the preventive measure in this dire situation.
The download has gone down by approximately 60% and its usage is getting affected in such a situation. However, there will be an increase in the total popularity once the situation is under control.
The quarantine period is not going as predicted for the majority of the population. The social distancing and ordering food from the office to take out home is now affected due to the lockdown period.
However, there are some countries where there is an increase in the delivery services while others have opted out of such services. Social distancing has affected the food delivery apps business similar to the way it has affected the car-riding apps.
Economic instability has become the biggest question mark in the current outbreak. The coronavirus outbreak is not just affecting the people around the globe but has resulted in the decline of major industries as well.
The global economy has become a major concern in the business world whether it is the oil industry or manufacturing. The FinTech industry is also facing a lot of challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even with the challenges, FinTech apps are downloaded by the users at a wide range. The number has grown slightly and is expected to grow around 40% in the coming month.
The health and medical apps usage is slowly increasing at a fast pace and is predicted to grow in the future as well. Due to the quarantine time, people are opting for medication apps, healthcare apps, fitness apps, etc. to maintain a healthy life.
Social isolation has affected the lifestyle of every individual and to keep their mind at peace and manage stress, they are depending upon the health and fitness apps. Along with this, telemedicine and other healthcare apps are used to schedule an appointment for remote consulting, information on symptoms, secure messaging, and so on.
The coronavirus outbreak is adversely affecting the world at a whole new level. In such a situation, people are looking out for every option that can give them an hourly report on the pandemic. As a result, they are switching to the new apps that send out alerts as soon as the news pops up in the market.
This is a way to suffice the interest of the audience and give them regular access to the news. In the past month, there has been an increase in the number of downloads of news apps. This is a record-breaking number for the news providers.
We are in the middle of social distancing and lockdown at home. This has taken a toll on the travel app industry. The businesses are closed off and any mode of traveling is completed shut as for now.
Whether it is hotel booking, online travel agencies, airlines, and so on, the travel business is no longer taking any requests for the indefinite period. However, the rate of mobile apps for travel tends to increase once the quarantine period is over and the COVID-19 outbreak is controlled.
The active users’ rate for dating apps is decreasing post-Valentine’s day. After Valentine’s Day, the COVID-19 outbreak started to spread around several countries that have put a full stop on dating.
The pandemic has affected the typical seasonality of the dating pattern. However, users are using it to chat and find the match but it is not that affected when it comes to go out and have a brunch date with the perfect one.
The decrease in downloads and usage of mobile apps has come up as a blow for the developers. However, the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the economy of mobile apps is going to be much larger than what we expect (for the coming year).
The revenue of the mobile apps due to COVID19 stays strong with the projection reaching the level of $171 billion by the end of 2024. The total ratio is said to be 80% more than that of 2019.
This is the milestone that is said to be achieved in the coming years after the said outbreak is controlled.
To get a better idea about the spending on the app stores. In 2020, the mobile app industry will surpass $100 billion that is the increase of approximately 20% of hits. The revenue will also surpass especially for the subscription holders including lifestyle, social networking, entertainment, etc.
TechCrunch predicted that The total number of app downloads to reach $183.7 billion by 2024 that is a hike of 9%. The total downloads have started to increase even at the time of crisis that is 22% more than that of 2019 that makes it approximately 140.3 billion.
The mobile apps will increase even more for grocery delivery, education, and remote work-based apps. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the downloads have reached 56.2 billion that is 30% more in 2020 that only witnessed the growth of 10.4% by 2019.
Our lives reflect around the smartphones and mobile apps that are connecting us with the world. In this dire situation, mobile apps allow us to gather information at our fingertips. Be it entertainment, distraction, working, or gaining knowledge, mobile apps are the major source of the population.
The businesses are taking precautionary steps to ensure that employees are safe and mobile apps are the way out. This COVID-19 curve is slowly flattening up and our only way to move ahead is to ensure that being consumers and service providers we work together.
Elevate your journey and empower your choices with our insightful guidance.
CEO at Appventurez
Ajay Kumar has 15+ years of experience in entrepreneurship, project management, and team handling. He has technical expertise in software development and database management. He currently directs the company’s day-to-day functioning and administration.
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